


Five By Five

by Enchantable



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Angst, Drama, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Multi, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 17:51:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 28,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/903112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enchantable/pseuds/Enchantable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A master collection of prompts and responses from my tumblr blog. Ranging from the sad to the hilarious, the sweet to the smutty and everything in between. Warnings and pairings for a particular prompt are in the notes on top.</p><p>*Fics that are within the same verse are noted at the beginning</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prompt 1 (Maleigh, Jackets, Post Win Verse 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Raleigh giving Mako a Gipsy Danger pilot jacket  
> Couple: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket  
> Warnings: None

The jacket is a warm weight on his shoulders.

He remembers when he got it the first time. When all the Rangers branded themselves. Dog tags around your neck, Jaeger jacket on your back. He and Yancy did their interviews in the jackets, back when being a Jaeger pilot was something glorious. When they were the rock stars. 

He left the jacket in the shatterdome with the wreckage of Gipsy. 

It’s sitting on his bed when he finally gets back from the infirmary. It’s been patched up but he can see the old rips and faded spots. It feels heavy in his hand but when he drapes it around his shoulders, the weight is a grounding comfort. His first thought isn’t who put it there or who got it patched up, it’s that it seems wrong for there to be only one. Much in the same way his small room suddenly seems to big. 

It takes one call to Choi for Yancy’s jacket to be handed to him. He knows Yancy is gone, that his scent is long since faded, but it doesn’t stop him from lifting up the jacket and breathing in. The smell of metal and oil hits his nose and brings a smile to his lips. It’s somehow Yancy, Gipsy and Mako all tumbled together. 

He adjusts his jacket over his shoulder and folds the other across his arm before going down the steps and crossing the hall to Mako’s room. It takes a little adjusting before he frees his good hand and raps on her door. It’s only been an hour since he’s seen her but for some reason it feels too long. It’s a side effect of the drift, he thinks. Or partially anyway. Still when the door opens and his eyes go down to her slight form, a smile breaks his face. 

"Hey," he greets. 

Her eyes remain on his but he knows she’s seen the jacket. Just as he knows she won’t press the issue. There’s no need. They’ve drifted together and any pilot knows the drift doesn’t end when the connection does. It lingers. Mako Mori knows him as well as he knows himself. So he drops the ceremony and pretense and holds out the jacket. 

Her eyes move from him to it before she reaches out and takes the garment from him. Her hands are steady for anyone else, but for her he can see the slight tremble. It’s a two way street, the drift. And he knows the idea of giving interviews fills her with dread. The last time she was in front of a camera she was a child and the reporter asked about the red shoe she was carrying. She burst into tears, wailing for parents that had been murdered. There is nothing to be ashamed of, but he knows the feeling in the pit of her stomach is just that. 

"Pilots usually wear them," he explains as she holds the jacket, “once you’ve been in a Jaeger, being in front of a couple of cameras is nothing."

Her fingers tighten in the fur of the jacket before she slides it on. The damn thing falls to her knees. In the baggy pants and huge jacket she looks like a child playing dress up. Their eyes meet and both smiles turn into laughs when she tries to reach up and stifle hers but finds the sleeves cover her hands. 

"We might need to get it taken in," he says. 

"Just a little," she agrees, “but for now," she rolls the sleeves up and looks at him, “thank you," she says.

"Don’t mention it," he tells her, “lets get something to eat."

She nods and steps out of her room, closing the door behind her and sliding the key into her jacket. He makes it to the bottom of the steps before he realizes she isn’t behind him. When he turns around she’s standing at the top of the steps. She’s holding something in her hand. His throat tightens as he walks to where she’s standing. In her hand is a knut, looped through a long chain. They both know what it is but at the same time it makes them both stop. 

Gipsy is gone. Their escape pods are the only remnants of the Jaeger and those have been taken away. Raleigh knows getting attached to material things is a mistake. Even when they’re massive, twenty five story tall robots. But he can’t help miss the Jaeger. Gipsy was—he stops himself. He still can’t get past the was. One look at Mako and he knows she feels the same. The small knut is the piece of Gipsy—before the repairs and refittings. They both know Yancy swiped it and had it around his neck when he wasn’t in the Jaeger, so he could always carry a piece of him with it. 

Mako holds out her hand, offering it to him. He picks up the chain, letting it dangle from his fingers. Carefully he slips it around her head, letting the knut fall on top of the tank she wears. Smiling he turns and continues towards the mess hall. Quickly she falls in step besides him.

"Like I said," he tells her, “when you’ve piloted a Jaeger, a few reporters are nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the Post Win Verse


	2. Prompt 2 (Maleigh, Jackets, Post Win Verse 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: You mentioned interviews in your other Pacific Rim prompt answer. Can I (and probably the other prompter) get protective!Raleigh, an interviewer asks an inappropriate question of Mako and it pisses Raleigh off. We all know the media does that shit. And can we have Mako also calming Raleigh down and calmly defending herself?
> 
> Couple: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: None
> 
> Followup to Prompt 1

"Your adoptive father sacrificed himself to keep you alive, how does that make you feel?"

 

The question is so horrible, so crass that it makes it difficult for Raleigh to breathe. The reporter’s face is perfectly calm, as though he isn’t asking Mako to relive the loss of her adoptive father, of the man who saved her life. For a single moment Mako’s face is full of shock and anguish, of a pain so raw and fresh that only the fact they’ve drifted together makes Raleigh capable of comprehending it. The reporter on the other hand looks like he’s just asked what their thoughts are on the weather they’re having. 

"Did you really just ask her that?" he can barely recognize his own voice over the blood pounding his ears, “she just lost her father. Why the hell would you ask her how she’s feeling about it? How did you feel when you lost someone to the Kaiju? Not like talking about it to some shit eating reporter I’m guessing—"

He doesn’t realize he’s halfway out of his seat until the small hand grasps his, stopping him in his tracks. 

It doesn’t matter that the man in front of him is a renowned reporter who would have a Pulitzer or something if those were still around. It also doesn’t matter that one of his arms is still in a sling and partially numb. He is going to beat the shit out of the man until he’s apologizing to Mako for even bringing up Stacker’s death. And then if anyone brings up Chuck’s death he’s going to beat the shit out of them too.

They’re supposed to be heroes now. Beacons of hope to the people. But in the past two days they’ve lost family and friends and haven’t mourned them. They are just as human, just as broken—more broken than most. And they can ask him whatever they want. But Mako doesn’t need to be paraded in front of them. They don’t get a chance to turn her back into that little girl in the blue coat clutching her red shoe. Not if he has anything to say about it. 

Mako’s tight grip brings him back to reality. He manages to rip his eyes from the reporter’s now shocked face to Mako’s tightly controlled features. She doesn’t say a word, but she doesn’t really need to. He can hear everything she isn’t saying, as clearly as though she was shouting it. Drifting is a two way street. So is trust. And even though everything in him wants to slam his chair into his face, he forces his knees to bend and sit back down. 

Mako’s hand doesn’t leave his as she looks at the reporter. Her face is still and calm, but he can feel the grip she has on his fingers. He shifts his bad shoulder slightly, so his jacket hides their hands a little bit. Even if she doesn’t need to keep holding his hand, he doesn’t want to give her a reason to let go. Her voice is calm as she speaks, betraying nothing as she locks eyes with the reporter. 

"My father and Ranger Hansen detonated their payload to give Gipsy Danger a clear shot at the Kaiju homeworld," she says, “their sacrifice was to keep all of us alive. You included," she offers the barest ghost of a smile, “it makes me feel very proud." 

Color blossoms on the reporter’s cheeks and he looks at his notes, obviously chastised. Raleigh still wants to beat him and hasn’t taken it off the table fully yet. As though she can sense that, her fingers wrap around the side of his hand. He glances over at her but her eyes are on the reporter, as though she’s just patiently waiting for the next question. His own hand turns over, his fingers curling up over hers. 

"What’s your next question?" she asks the reporter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the Post Win Verse


	3. Prompt 3 (Maleigh, sparring)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: How about Mako and Raleigh sparring? There was so much tension in the film spar but now that they've drifted I think it would take it to a different level of conversation.  
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket  
> Warnings: None

The drills have long since been ingrained in her muscles. 

Over, under, dip left, dip right, spin, strike, block low, block high—the staff flows through her fingers as she moves through the motions. Her feet are bare and silent as she steps along the mats, letting the wood flow where it will. As she steps it feels as though the mats have shifted. They’re cheaper, rougher. The smell of sweat and children is heavy in the air as a pot bellied man shouts butchered Japanese. With the next step the image is gone, replaced with the room she is in. 

She’s never set foot in that place. Her training, from the beginning, has been steeped in pure tradition. But Raleigh’s first step on a training floor took place in a cheap dojo with a man who only knew the basics. None of the artistry her first training master—a friend of her father’s—had. 

"Can’t sleep?" 

She doesn’t turn at the words. She did not hear him come in, but she is not surprised he’s awake. It isn’t just her memories that have her seeking solace in the training floor. Her remedy for not being able to sleep is a book and a cup of tea. His is the brutality, the exhausting. Therefore when she turns and sees him holding a cup, still warm enough to give off steam, she isn’t surprised. 

"Thought i might find you here," he says, setting the tea down and toe-ing off his shoes. He turns them from the mats with practiced precision she knows isn’t really his own.

"You can’t sleep either?" she replies, more for the sake of reply. 

"No," he says, walking over to the other end of the training mats and sliding a staff off the wall. He gives it an experimental pass with his hand, the wood whispering through the air, “careful—"

"Of your shoulder," she replies, dropping her own hand, “I will be."

The wood meets with a sharp sound, bouncing back before meeting again. She’s a little surprised to find they are both off balance, not purely because of injuries. She is surprised at how her body reacts as though she was stronger, as though her limbs were longer. And she knows it’s the memories of Raleigh adjusting to his body jumbling with her own. She compensates by letting her mind go blank, letting her muscles take over purely and manages to get two easy hits in before she steps back and lowers her staff. 

"You’re letting me win," she accuses. 

"You know I’m not," he replies, “I’m off my game."

"No," she says with a shake of her head, “it’s my memories. You are misjudging the distance. Fighting like your arms are shorter. Let your mind go blank."

He frowns and looks down at his staff. She brings her staff up again and he follows. The wood meets again, both dealing a series of rapid blows. She pushes him to the other side of the mats before he turns it around. There’s a quick move and her back hits the ground. He follows her, pressing the wood to her throat gently. Their eyes lock, his sweeping her face before meeting hers again.

"How did you know that?"

"Kadinovsky," she says, “I watched them fight after drifting."

He looks at her before nodding and getting to his feet. She flips up and faces him. Their staffs meet again and again until she slips under his defense and presses hers to his neck. Their eyes meet again and she feels her fingers tighten on the staff. This is not having the effect she’s after. Especially when they’re waiting so long between bouts. 

"You’re hesitating," she says and can’t quite keep the accusation out of her tone. 

"So are you," he replies, his eyes not leaving hers. 

She’s used to reigning in her emotion, to keeping the hurt and anger from taking over. But this feels as though she’s being wound tighter and tighter. It’s not exhausting. It’s thrilling. Mako know she’s had more than enough thrills in her life for the past few days. She doesn’t step back this time as she brings the staff around, keeping it close. Raleigh meets the blow easily, blocking it before reversing their positions so her back is to his chest, his staff pressed against her throat. 

He’s close enough for her to see the scars on his shoulder—not that you have to be close to see them. But he’s also close enough for her to feel his breath on the back of her neck. His staff lightly taps her collar bone and she realizes she’s lost in thought. Her reaction is instant as she grasps the staff and flips him over her shoulder, completely forgetting about his shoulder until he strikes the ground. 

"Raleigh!" she drops the staff and falls to her knee next to him, “I’m so sorry are you—"

"Mako it’s fine," he says immediately, “I landed on my other shoulder and—Mako?"

She’s on her feet almost instantly, feeling like she’s been burned. If she had injured him—the thought is sickening. He’s already going to need more surgery for his shoulder. She can’t cause him more pain. Before she can make it off the mat his hand is on her shoulder. She knows he won’t keep her there against her will, but she also knows he doesn’t want her to leave. 

"Mako it’s alright."

"It isn’t," she says turning around, his hand not leaving her shoulder, “you could have been hurt."

"That doesn’t matter," he says looking at her, “I’ve been hurt before."

She looks up at him. His hand is still on her shoulder. She can feel every callous against her skin. Her own is hot but his feels scorching. Somehow the air has become difficult to breath as she looks up at him. They are standing still but this feels like a different kind of sparring. There is an entire conversation going on, a dialogue that is being expressed with something that doesn’t involve anything as simple as words or movement. His elbow relaxes as she steps forward. 

"You’re hesitating," she says finally, her voice nothing more than a whisper. He nods, not saying anything as she takes another step forward, “don’t." 

Wordlessly he nods before his hand moves from her shoulder to the back of her neck and his lips finally find hers. 


	4. Prompt 4 (Maleigh, date)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako and Raleigh's first date, because what kind of date do you go on when you've pretty much shared a brain with someone?  
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket  
> Warnings: None

He’s actually nervous. 

Raleigh can’t remember the last time he was nervous around a girl. Especially for a date. But then again he can’t quite remember the last time he went on a date with someone he cared about this much. Or who knew him quite so well. Even before Yancy his dating life—if it could be called that—was primarily one night stands. No explanations, no commitment, no risk. 

But Mako is different. 

Literally different in every sense of the word. She feels like the other part of him. It’s difficult to actually put that into words. One of the reasons he vanished from the Jaeger program was he didn’t think someone could fit inside his head. Could face his demons and come out the other side in one piece. But he’d never thought there was someone like Mako. Someone who had their own demons, who understood what it was like to face the nightmares and the terror, to push everyone away because it hurt too much. 

Drifting was sharing the same mind space. It was fitting two halves into a whole. Maybe their halves were smaller, more broken than most. But they fit together. Raleigh doubted they would have before. He wasn’t in the practice of thinking if things were worth it, but if someone was, it was Mako. 

Which was how he found himself standing outside her door, hands shoved into his pockets and wondering why knocking suddenly seemed harder than driving Gipsy Danger into a portal between dimensions. It was made only more ridiculous by the fact that he knew she was just as inexperienced. There were a few boys she liked, but none worth the risk. None who saw her as more than that crying little girl. 

"Raleigh?" he turns and nearly trips over his own feet when he sees her standing behind him, tablet cradled firmly in the crook of her arm, “are you alright?"

"Yeah I’m fine," he says with a grin he knows is trying far too hard to be easy going, “how are you?"

"Alright," she says. After a beat of awkward silence she tries again, “I was going to dinner, do you want to join me?" she asks finally. 

"No," he says and kicks himself when confusion flickers in her eyes, “I mean yes," she frowns, “I mean—have dinner with me," he says. 

"I just invited you to have dinner with me," she tells him, looking at him as though he’s grown two heads. 

"I don’t mean here. I mean in the city," he says. She looks at him blankly, “go on a date with me," he tells her finally. 

"E-excuse me?" she stutters, confusion giving way to shock. 

"No—shit—that came out wrong," he presses a hand to the bridge of his nose, “would you please go to dinner with me in the city," he says, wishing desperately that they would stop trying to build a new jaeger and instead build something useful. Like a time machine. Or something to keep him from putting his foot in his mouth. He drops his hand and looks at her, “Please?"

She’s still looking at him like he’s told her they’re going to retrieve Gipsy Danger or something. It isn’t like this is out of the blue. They’ve kissed before and they eat almost every meal together anyway. But he is asking her out. And that does changes things. He isn’t worried about her not feeling the same way or anything. He knows she does. But Mako is in control of her emotions, to a degree he has trouble comprehending sometimes. And he’s made a complete ass out of himself so he isn’t going to be surprised if she says no. 

"Where?"

The question is spoken in a controlled voice. But she isn’t saying no. He reaches up and scratches the back of his neck. 

"Newt told me about a place," he says, “I think he heard about it from Hannibal."

"I am not eating Kaiju," she tells him. 

"Of course not," he says, “it’s normal food."

She looks at him carefully before opening her tablet and scrolling through the calendar she keeps. 

"We can go tonight or thursday," she says and looks back up at him, “which is better?"

"Thu—tonight," he says, “tonight’s good." 

She nods and folds up the tablet, turning to go before she pivots on her heel and closes the distance between them. Until then their kisses have been hidden. Not because they are hiding but because they happen when no-one’s around. There are people around and from the dull thud he hears, one of them has dropped something heavy. But Mako’s lips are soft and insistant and he’s not going to worry about something as stupid as a gawker when she’s kissing him. 

"Don’t be nervous," she says pulling back, “I’ve been inside your head, remember?"


	5. Prompt 5 (Maleigh, Nightmares)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako suffers from night terrors after everything. Raleigh comforts her.  
> Pairing: Mako Mori/ Raleigh Becket  
> Warnings: minor descriptions of violence, injuries

She resists sharing a room as long as she can. 

Mako likes her space. Or, rather, Mako liked her space. Especially at night. She prides herself on her control, but at night she has none. As a girl she had told Stacker she would find a way to control what she dreamed. He told her to market it to the Rangers, she would make a killing. She did not understand what he meant until she piloted a Jaeger. 

Night terrors are common. There is so much war and fear and destruction—so many dead. The survivors do not have the best sleep. Entire markets are dedicated to fixing that but nothing really works, not every night. But Jaeger pilots like staying close to each other. Mako likes her space, but she craves Raleigh’s presence. Craves the mind that has joined with hers, whose memories slip through her own. 

It’s Choi who explains it to her finally. That it’s strange there’s a hallway between her and Raleigh instead of just a few inches. Pilots bunk together. When she asks Raleigh he blushes and stammers out something about not wanting to push the issue, but Mako is fairly certain it has more to do with their differences in anatomy than him not wanting to push her.

Still when more people come to the shatterdome and room is needed, she and Rileigh offer to bunk together in the same breath. He doesn’t have a lot of stuff, which is good because she has too much and somehow it all fits nicely. They move around each other easily, making the small space work. Neither says much before bed but they don’t really need to. 

In the darkness Mako listens to his even breathing and stays awake for as long as she can manage. Except sleep comes before she’s ready, like it always does. One minute it’s dark and the next it’s too bright. She’s running as fast as she can, with the sounds of horror on her heels. Except it’s not an alien scream this time. In the reflection of the building she can see it’s Gipsy and she’s falling. Mako runs as fast as she can and dives to miss the last of the Jaeger. 

Raliegh’s limp form tumbles out and lands at her feet. 

He’s not dressed in black like her but in white, like the pictures she’s seen. His helmet is shattered and the white is torn and stained red. Her fingers are clumsy as she tries to find the bleeding, to put pressure on the wounds but there are too many. His lips are already turning red with blood and she can see it slipping down his nose, just like Stacker’s. His eyes are fogged but the look up at her. His hand reaches out and brushes the glass of her helmet.

"Mako," he breathes her name, “I—"

"Mako?"

"Mako!"

Her eyes fly open as she bolts upright, gasping for air. She’s in the room. It’s dark and cool and there is no Gipsy Danger falling or blood. Raleigh isn’t dying in her lap and Stacker’s already gone. But the memories are tumbling over one another and it’s impossible to think straight as she struggles to breath. 

Someone’s calling to her from an impossible distance. They’re saying something but she can’t hear them. A whimper tears from her throat as the bed seems to fall away. She doesn’t want to dream again. For a moment she’s lost in the dark space and then she’s somewhere solid. Something is holding her tightly. Tight enough that she cannot ignore it’s presence. She feels something at her back, moving in and out in a steady rhythm. it’s not much, but she focus on it with everything she has and tries to breathe with it. 

"That’s it," she hears as much with her ears as the vibration in her chest, “in and out."

The world slowly seems to come back together as she focuses on breathing. The small space is the bottom bunk. Or, more specifically, it’s Rileigh’s lap. Their legs are tangled together and his arms are wrapped tightly around her, folding her own across her chest so she cannot hit something or injure herself. His head is ducked low, she can feel his stubble on her temple. 

"You’re okay," he says in the darkness, “I’m right here. We’re okay."

She shifts a little and he lets her, but he doesn’t let her go. Mako is glad. She doesn’t want to ask him not to. She leans her head back as his chin settles on her shoulder, his thumb moving gently against her skin. He doesn’t ask what she dreamed about, but Mako doubts he needs to. Instead they sit in his bunk, wrapped in each other and let the nightmares fade away. 


	6. Prompt 6: (Tendo Choi, hints of Maleigh)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: choi's opinion of the new Gipsy Danger team and the positive effect it's had on Raleigh.  
> Pairing: None unless you squint   
> Warnings: None

Choi is a keen observer. 

Or that’s what he likes to think of himself anyway. It’s his job to observe. To notice. To anticipate and solve and do everything to make sure his girl comes home. His girl being Gipsy Danger of course. Sometimes Jaegers outlast pilots. Sometimes pilots outlast Jaegers. But mostly they live and die together. So it’s his job to look after his girl just as much as it’s his job to look after her boys. 

When he watches Raleigh walk away, a part of him is despondent but a part of him is grateful. Raleigh’s mind is a dark, twisted place. He wouldn’t wish that on his worst enemy, much less his closest friend. He’s got no place in the Jaeger anymore. When he watches the news he looks for a peak of him when they cover the building of that damn, useless wall but he never sees him. He imagines he’ll die on it. 

When he first sees Mako he’s struck by her. He imagines most people are. She’s a mess of contradictions, of hidden smiles and sharp edges. Of precision and regulation and blue streaks in her hair. He likes her immediately. She’s determined to be a Ranger. When she says this his first thought is that her mind is a dark, twisted place that he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. His second is of Raleigh. 

They bring back Gipsy danger and then a few months later they bring back Raleigh. He’s not exactly sure who looks worse when they come in the shatterdome but he thinks Raleigh might have Gipsy beat. She, at least, seems fixable. Everyone seems to tip toe around Raleigh a bit, even the cadets who are practically foaming at the mouth at a chance to take the remaining spot. 

Except Mako.

Mako who Choi knows has files on Raleigh and practically lights up when she sees Gipsy like an old friend really does not like Raleigh. She thinks he’s reckless and careless and a few other things. She’s right, but she doesn’t understand combat. Stacker doesn’t want her to ever understand it, but Choi has a feeling she’s going to whether he wants her to or not. And Choi’s usually right about these kinds of things. 

When their drift is a disaster he’s actually thrilled. Pilots need to be on the same page. Wether it’s because they’re rock stars or fuck ups or whatever. Raleigh thinks of himself that way and Mako nearly blows up the entire shatterdome. He sees them sitting in front of Gypsy talking and thinks this might actually work. 

And then it does. 

He mourns when Gipsy doesn’t come home. Then he celebrates with the rest of them when Mako and Rileigh do. And a part of him grins like an idiot when he sees the vid feed of them sitting on the pod with their foreheads pressed together. When Hensen rolls his eyes and asks when they’re going to kiss already, Choi shakes his head. 

He comes to see them in the infirmary. Raleigh is worse off. He’s burned and bruised and his bad arm is worse. Yet his face is peaceful, more peaceful than Choi has seen in a very long time. And he knows that has everything to do with the tiny woman whose curled against him in the bed. He smiles and shakes his head at the two of them and wonders if he can put a bet with Hensen about when that kiss is going to take place. 


	7. Prompt 7: (Maleigh, parenthood)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako and Raleigh are new parents by the time the Kaiju find their way back to our world. The first time they have to leave their kid/kids behind to go out and fight the Kaiju  
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket  
> Warnings: None

The sound of a lullaby wakes him. 

He opens his eyes to see his wife sitting on the edge of their bed. In the shatterdome space is hard to come by and the two rooms they’ve been given is a huge boon. Their apartment isn’t massive, but this seems almost claustrophobic. Still it’s safe and that is what matters the most.

He pushes himself up and comes over to her, sitting down. She turns her head and looks at him, silence falling over them. They’re in what might be the most protected place in the world. But that protection comes at a price. Gipsy Tango is launching tomorrow and they will be pilots again. He’s not worried about them piloting or their ability to destroy what comes in their path. But they’re going to be targets for what they did. 

A soft sound draws his attention to Mako’s arms. Their son gives a tiny yawn and blinks back up at them. He’s so tiny it blows Raleigh’s mind half the time, almost as much as the idea that the person in his wife’s arms is someone they created. He reaches out and brushes a finger across his cheek and the baby gives a toothless grin. Mako smiles down at him, even as tears shine in her eyes. 

"I don’t want to leave him," she admits. 

Raleigh nods, not trusting his voice. He doesn’t want to leave him either. He especially doesn’t want Mako up in the cockpit with him tomorrow. Their son is barely five months old and though Mako is tougher and pushes herself harder than anyone should, his birth was difficult. She’s still recovering. But his last attempt at broaching the subject had made it clear that Mako would be in the cockpit with him and their son would be waiting for them when they got back. 

"Newt will be good with him," he says, “show him all the cool stuff in the lab."

"He’s going to wind up a Kaiju groupie," she says.

"As long as he doesn’t get tattoos of them," Raleigh says, shifting so his robotic arm is around Mako’s shoulder. The skin makes it so it’s almost impossible to tell, and it means he’s a bit less of a liability. Mako turns her face into his shoulder, her lips pressing softly to the scar that outlines his joint, “he’ll be fine," he says, “we’ll all be fine. Back before you know it."

She takes the comfort for what it is and he loves her for that. They both know there’s a good chance they won’t be coming home tomorrow, that this could be their last night at as a family. The thought makes him ache in a way that has nothing to do with his old injuries. But Mako is strong and Gipsy Tango is too. She’s a mash up of Danger and Coyote, of the people who have made them who they are. 

And he will do anything to make sure his son does not need to grow up to become a Ranger like him. 


	8. Prompt 8 (Mako fighting Chuck)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: instead of Raleigh beating the hell out of Chuck, Mako intervenes and kicks some ass  
> Pairing: Mako Mori/ Raleigh Becket if you squint  
> Warnings: Minor violence

She’s so stunned when the fight breaks out that she can’t move. 

She can’t remember the last time that someone fought for her. Demanded an apology on her behalf. She watches them duel, feeling like her feet are lead. Chuck ducks under Raleigh’s defense and slams his hands into his shoulder, then his foot. Raleigh drops to his knee with a gasp as Chuck hits him again in the same place. 

Mako is moving before she knows what’s happening. She rips the bigger man away and throws him over her shoulder, making no move to catch him or soften the impact. He’s on his feet rushing towards her but she turns his momentum against him, dropping him again and again before she goes down with him, twisting her legs and yanking his wrist back.

Stacker rips her off him before she can break his wrist. She shoves herself away, bows with as much respect as she can before running over to where Raleigh is doubled over, one hand pressed against his shoulder. His jaw is locked, even more when Chuck hurls insults. Mako’s fingers dig into his good shoulder as she tries not to curse at him. 

She pushes him back into her room before they can be sent to the infirmary. Chuck will hear about it if he goes and the rumors will only get worse. She pulls a chair close and he staggers over to it, dropping down. She goes over to the small fridge in her room and pulls out an ice pack, coming over to him. 

"It’s fi—"

"it isn’t," she says, cutting him off, anger making her bold, “there is not honor in attacking a weakness."

"No," he agrees, “but there’s some practicality to it."

"Take off your shirt," she tells him.

He complies. Angrily she grabs an pillow case and wraps the pack in it before pressing it to his chest. A hiss escapes his lips at the coldness but she knows it will help. She glances down his back but cannot see any redness there. Her eyes move to the scars that cross his arm. From his file she knows that he’s got them from the attack. From their mind meld she knows the feeling of the Kaiju ripping through his flesh. When she manages to look away she sees he’s watching her. 

"Sorry," she mutters, feeling oddly ashamed of her behavior. 

"Don’t be," he says, “I’m sorry you have to know what it felt like to get them."

She ducks her head and looks at him. 

"You know what happened to my foot," she says. 

Burns and broken glass are a far cry from the Kaiju claws but those scars are hers. She knows what it felt like to have the needle going in and out of her skin to patch up the Kaiju wounds, just as he knew the terror of a little girl watching a medic pull nylon out of her skin. 

"You shouldn’t have gone after him," Raleigh says finally, “he’s not worth it."  
  
"No," Mako agrees, “but co-pilots protect each other," she says and meets his eyes, “that is worth it."

He looks at her silently and she wonders if she’s said something wrong. A breath escapes his lips finally and he shakes his head. Heat blossoms on her cheeks and her fingers tighten against the gel of the cold pack. She wants to think he’s thinking that she’s ridiculous  She practically fried  half the people in the shatterdome and now she’s calling herself a copilot. 

"Mako," he says, his voice low and gentle, “what am I thinking right now?" he asks her. 

"That you are grateful," she says, not meeting his eye, “because you never thought you would have a co-pilot again. That your mind was too dark and too broken."

He nods, one of his hands moving up and gently covering hers. Her eyes move from their joined hands to meet his. He holds her gaze easily and the openness in his eyes is humbling. 

"Thank you, Mako." 


	9. Prompt 9 (Hannibal, Newt, Herman, Shoes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Newton and Hannibal, the Shoe Aftermath. Maybe a cameo by Gottlieb since they're all part of the neural handshake with a Kaiju club   
> Pairings: Hannibal and his fabulous self  
> Warnings: Don't take someone's shoe

Newt has spent most of the past twenty four hours convinced he is going to die. 

It’s not an off base assumption, all things considered. So it’s a rather cruel joke that when he finally feels calm, the doors slam open and Hannibal Chau comes limping into the shatterdome, the tips of his gold shoe rattling like the spurs on a cowboy’s boots. Newt barely manages to fall over his own feet before Gottleib steadies him. 

"Where the fuck is my shoe?" Hannibal demands.

"You smell God awful," Newt blurts out. 

"Yeah because I’ve been inside a Kaiju fetus for twelve hours. My shoe."

"I don’t—"

"For gods sake give the man his shoe," Gottlieb hisses.

"I don’t have it!"

Hannibal strides over and Newt almost goes fetal himself. If he had been eaten by a Kaiju of any size, he’s pretty sure he’d be dead from shock or at least have shit his pants. But Hannibal just looks like he wants him dead. The big man comes close enough for Newt to feel his breath on his face and pulls off his sunglasses showing the mangled flesh of his eye. 

"Get. My. Shoe." he growls. 

"Yes, right away," Gottleib says stepping in, “it’s being cleaned as we speak. If you’ll just follow me this way…"

Newt is about to sink in his chair when he realizes that Hannibal has been eaten by a baby Kaiju. His eyes widen and he scrambles up before taking after them. 

"How did you get out of the Kaiju—"

The knife misses him by centimeters. 


	10. Prompt 10: (Herc and Chuck, being hard to kill)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Chuck survives. It takes him a while to get home, he's a different person when he gets there.  
> Pairings: None  
> Warnings: Descriptions of injuries

The call comes at five in the morning.

Herc has just gotten off a five hour shift and is pretty much dead to the world. Handsome slobbering wakes him up and he gropes for the phone, not bothering with the lights. If it was an emergency someone else would handle it or Becket would be pounding at his door.

"Hansen," he grunts. 

"Hercules Hansen?" 

"That’s what I said," he growls, “it’s five in the morning, what the hell do you want?"

"Mr. Hansen I don’t quite know how to say this—"

"With your words."

"Sir, we found your son." 

For the first time in twenty years he drops the phone.

Twenty minutes later he’s on a flight to some hospital, torn between getting his hopes up and plotting wonderful ways to murder the doctor. They’ve explained that there is no mistake. He’s been in a costal hospital for two months, his condition deteriorating until the doctors bring him somewhere more urban. Somewhere where someone finally recognizes him as Striker Eureka’s pilot. 

Sensors malfunction. Nuclear bombs give off emps. It’s entirely possible the pod discharged and they didn’t read it. When he finally gets there he storms in, not trusting his voice. A woman almost makes him fill out forms but then thinks better of it and leads him back to a private room. She opens the door and waits outside. There’s a fucking curtain up and Herc wants to murder someone, to take on a Kaiju with his bare hands before he pulls back the curtain. 

Except Handsome’s broken free already. 

And he’s on the other side of the curtain barking in a way Herc knows he only barks for one person. 

When he rips the curtain back it takes everything in him not to be sick. Because against reason, against hope, against what he knows to be true, Chuck is laying on the other side of the blue fabric. He’s barely recognizable for so many reasons but it’s him. Everything in Herc seems to crumble at the sight and before he knows it he’s on the floor next to his son’s bed, hot tears pouring down his cheeks. 

They give him a minute before the doctor comes in and explains what the hell is going on. 

His son was caught on the tail end of the blast. His pod was discharged, twisted and burning. His right arm is gone. His left leg may not be able to support his weight. There are other damages, revealed by the tubes that go in and out of him. But he’s alive. He’s alive and with every pulse of his heart he is getting closer to waking up. Herc punches the doctor and makes a call and two hours later the medical chopper is transporting Chuck to the shatterdome. 

Handsome doesn’t leave Chuck’s side. 

Herc only does it when he has to. And when he does Raleigh or Mako take over his watch. They are the last four pilots. They do not leave each other alone. Herc knows Chuck has a long road ahead of him, they all know he does. But the pilots won’t let him walk it alone. it’s Raleigh whose with him when he finally wakes, against all the odds. Six months after the final battle. His eyes snap open and Raleigh is on his feet in a second, slamming his hand on the call button for the doctor. 

"Hey, you’re okay, you’re okay," he says, fumbling over the words, “you’re home. You’re safe."

Chuck looks at him uncomprehendingly and Raleigh does the only thing he can think of and pulls Handsome up so the pilot can see him. His eyes lock on the dog and Raleigh wonders how the damn thing can be so heavy. 

"See?" he says, “you’re home." 


	11. Prompt 11 (Maleigh, Fluff)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Marry Me? 
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: None

Raleigh shifts in the chair as the scientist places the device around his head. New Jaegers are being built, but they want to test out how far two people can be and still perform a neural handshake. The idea of a Jaeger with remote capabilities thrills Raleigh, but it also seems fundamentally wrong. It goes against everything that he’s been taught and trained. 

"Alright Mr. Becket we’re ready."

He nods his consent and grips the arms of the chair lightly as he feels the familiar pull somewhere near his naval. He’s falling through the memories then and Mako’s warm presence rushes to meet him like an embrace. It’s been months since they’ve drifted and the comfort of it surprises him as their minds meld together. 

The pain and horror is still there, there’s more of it even. But there’s so much more than just that. He sees himself through her eyes. Not who he was the last time they met but the man he’s become. The way he makes her feel is enough to have his breath catch. And he knows she feels the same when she sees how he feels about her. 

The scientist is taking but he ignores them. Instead he breaks a cardinal rule and chases the rabbit, but this is a rabbit of his own choice. He takes them to the the hours after their first mind meld, sitting in front of Gipsy’s heart. In the memory he can see the two of them sitting there with their trays of food, but when he looks to the left he can see Mako as she is today. The blue is now green and the base issued clothing has been replaced temporarily with something more civilian. But Gipsy is just as beautiful as she was that day. 

"I miss her," Mako tells him.

"I do too," he says looking up at the Jaeger, “she was something else."

"She was something special," Mako replies. She looks down at the two of them and smiles faintly, “I think that was when I first liked you."

"Then?" he feigns offense, “I thought you liked me the moment you met me."

Mako laughs and he grins at her. Still looking at Gipsy his hand finds hers, fingers gently brushing against her palm before sliding through hers. She looks down at his hands before looking back up at him. The memory shifts, it changes until they’re standing in front of their two pilot rigs. Mako looks over at them and then back at him. 

He’s on one knee.

Her eyes widen as he looks up at her. He doesn't say anything but he doesn't need to. Not at first anyway. The memories seem to flash by them as they look at each other, but they wind up back in Gipsy’s control room. His thumb moves over the small scar on her knuckle as he looks at her, a nervous smile on his lips.

"Marry me?" he says.

Her eyes flood as she nods. The emotion is overwhelming and the scientists don’t want to push them so when his vitals spike they pull him out of the drift. He opens his eyes to see them standing there looking at him anxiously. He pushes them aside as he gets to his feet, quickly crossing the room and thinking only of Mako. He pushes the door open at the same instant she does. Their eyes meet across the hall and then they’re hurrying towards each other. 

He sweeps her up and she buries her face in his neck, her arms tight around him as he closes his eyes and wonders how the hell he got so lucky. The scientists don’t seem to know what just happened but Raleigh finds he doesn’t care as he lowers her down. He knows he’s wearing the biggest, dopiest grin but she’s beaming up at him. He pushes back her hair and looks down at her. 

"I take it that’s a yes," he says.

She closes the distance between them with a different kind of reply.


	12. Prompt 12 (Maleigh, Smut)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Maleigh First Time
> 
> Pairings: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warning: Smut

There comes a point when they’re fooling around that Mako stops. 

She doesn’t do it with her words, but with her actions and Raleigh immediately follows her lead. She shys back from him or presses a hand to his good shoulder and he knows that it’s time to stop. It hurts in more ways than one but he follows her lead. He doesn’t want to push her. He gets up and gets himself under control. He doesn’t need to have drifted to know how inexperienced Mako is. It’s not just her past but the fact that every man in the shatterdome knows what Stacker Pentecost was capable of and what the consequences would be for breaking that rule. 

Her inexperience doesn’t bother him. No more than his experience bothers her. As always they meet somewhere in the middle. Every time they get a little further before she stops him, testing the waters in that precise way of hers. He doesn’t want her to be precise though. He wants her to be messy, to be wild, to be that rare version of herself she only seems to let herself be around him. 

So when they’re laying on the bed, lips and hands moving over each other and his fingers slip beneath the soft fabric of her tank to the even softer skin underneath, he’s half waiting for her to push him away. Except the hand on his shoulder isn’t coming. She’s turning towards him, angling her body so that his hand slips lower on her spine until his fingers brush the waistband of her pants. 

His body aches and thrills as his eyes open hazily. She’s flushed and beautiful beneath him, but it’s the trust in her eyes that steals his breath away. 

"Mako," he breaths her name. 

She pushes herself up and presses their mouths together insistently one hand sliding through his hair to give it a gentle tug that tears a groan from him. She may not be experienced but she knows his body as well as he does. His lips stay on hers as his fingers skim the waist of her pants and dip gently underneath. Her body tenses fractionally as he feels the edge of her underwear. 

"We can stop," he says, his voice unsteady as his hand stills. 

She shakes her head against his. He would be floored by the idea of this being it if his body wasn’t so aching already. Mako hates being second guessed anyway. And when her other leg falls open so he’s between them, it gets even harder to think coherently. He mutters something that’s half curse, half relief under his breath before his lips press harder to hers. 

The pants she wears are loose. They’re boys pants after all. His fingers move across the soft skin of her hip before coming towards her center. He gently moves his lips from hers to the skin of her throat as his fingers skirt the edges. She responds to him, but she doesn’t move. Belatedly, like an idiot, Raleigh realizes what she’s waiting for. His teeth gently nip the skin of her throat before he places a kiss to the faint mark. 

"Spread your legs for me," he breathes. 

She complies without hesitation. His fingers slide underneath the fabric of her panties, slipping easily into her folds. She exhales sharply as his finger slowly slides into her center. The intrusion is gentle but it’s unfamiliar. He feels her shift against his hand and carefully adds another finger. He knows her body as well as she knows it herself and with a careful turn, he gets a surprised gasp.

He moves his hand so his fingers find her center. She’s touched herself like this but never had another person do it. Even with everything they’ve been through, he can feel the tension she’s clinging too. He pulls up from her throat to look at her face. She’s flushed and perfect, her eyes closed as the sensations threaten to take her over. He moves his fingers quicker, watching as she gasps and bites her lip and turns her face into the pillow to try and not give in.

"Mako," he says and even if his voice goes for stern, but falls somewhere south of it.

She gasps softly, raggedly as he presses his thumb to her. Her hips move agains this hand, once, twice, and then her back arches and her mouth falls open. Not a sound escapes but the silence is a completely different reward. He continues to move his hand against her as she rides it out before her eyes open and she looks up at him.

He kisses her, his mouth insistent on hers as his hand slips out of her. He reaches up and gropes blindly for a moment on the shelf above his bed until he finds what he’s looking for. Her eyes leave his to glance at the packet in his hand and he hates the nervousness he sees in her eyes. He’s ready to tell her that they can stop, they don’t have to keep going, when he sees the change in her eyes. 

Her small fingers reach out and wrap around the packet, pulling it away from him. Before he really knows what’s happening she’s got her small hands on his belt and then his fly and then everything is being pushed down. She makes quick work of her own garments as he holds himself above her, not daring to move while she snags the foil packet. There’s a precision to her movements, that sharp control she prizes so much. But he doesn’t think he’s ever been more turned on his entire life. 

Especially not when her fingers wrap around his length. This time the ragged gasp that escapes his lips has nothing to do with what’s not going to happen. Her fingers tighten against his skin and he doesn’t think it’s possible to get harder than he is. He knows that she only knows what to do because he’s done it himself. She adjusts for that as she tears open the packet and rolls it down his length. 

He eases her back and guides himself to her entrance. Her hips shift against him as he hesitates for a moment. 

"Raleigh," she gasps his name in a way that is half demand, half request but all want and he pushes in. 

The discomfort is immediate on her face and he wants to apologize but all that comes out is a half bit back groan. She’s tight and perfect and he hates causing her anything but joy. She moves her legs, arranges them differently. His arm hooks under her leg when she brings it up, adjusting her angle and how she’s open. He slides deeper in. Her hips buck against him and he pushes further, until with one motion he’s buried inside her body. 

For a moment they both are silent, save for the harsh breathing that punctuates the gentle whirr of the fan. Her head bobs and he nods and slowly begins to move. He isn’t overly gentle, but he knows that even like this she’ll be pissed if she thinks he’s holding back. Her hips rise to meet his, clumsily at first but then something clicks and suddenly they’re moving together.

It’s all push and pull and muttered words as their bodies move. His lips press everywhere as her fingertips dance along his spine before digging into the muscles of his lower back. He’s never done this with someone who knows him so intimately, knows every spot that makes him want to lose his mind. But she does and she doesn’t hold back as the heat builds between them until finally they tumble over the edge. 

When the aftershocks are finished he barely has the sense to pull out and roll over before his bad arm gives out. She lays next to him, fighting to get back under control before she gives it up and rolls over, tucking herself against his side, her head resting on his pectoral. His fingers gently trace the line of her spine as he feels her breath skim his abs. 

"I—" she begins and trails off. 

"Yeah," he echoes, pressing his lips to the crown of her head as she nuzzles her face into his skin. 

Words aren’t needed. 

Then again, they never have been.


	13. Prompt 13 (Mako, Raleigh, Bathing)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako and Raleigh take a nice bath together
> 
> Pairing: None, but Maleigh if you squint 
> 
> Warnings: Injuries

Raleigh was never one for baths before. 

Manliness was kind of part of the deal and water rations made it difficult. The last time he could remember having a proper bath was in the hospital, where they soaked his shoulder to try and losen up the muscles. It worked, but then he left for the wall and it wasn’t as if there were bathtubs around there. 

But now he’s a pilot and something of a hero. He’s also got a seriously busted left shoulder that’s being subject to a new circle of hell called physical therapy. The muscles are moved and bent and stimulated and he’s pretty sure if someone sticks one ore needle in him he’s going to kill them all. Even so, the hot water feels incredible on his skin as he sinks into the underground pool.

"You look like you’re going to drown."

He cracks open an eye and immediately wishes he hadn’t. The underground pool is warm and wonderful and big, but there is only one. And despite his best efforts, he’s not the only one who got injured in their final mission. Mako has already looked away from him and is pulling off her clothes. His throat works convulsively as she strips to her undergarments and slides in.

His slight embarrassment is ridiculous, all things considered. But it is there. Especially because she can not only see the lines that cross his shoulder but the ones that span his lower ribs and pelvis. Thankfully he isn’t fully naked, but everything is still bared and he’s got an irrational urge to say he’s done and get out of the pool. Except Mako ducks under the water and when she pushes herself up, hair slicked back to reveal all the angles of her face, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen something so lovely. 

"How’s your shoulder?" she asks, coming over to him.

"Hurts like a bitch," he says. 

"Electro stimulation does that," she tells him, “but you—"

"Didn’t tend to the original damage," he finishes with a groan, “really regretting that right now."

She doesn’t tell him it’s his fault or that he deserves it. Instead she comes over to him and maneuvers so she’s behind him. She doesn’t wait for permission as her finges come into contact with his skin. He knows she doesn’t know acupuncture or anything. He’s seen inside her mind after all, even if the half considered thought makes him feel like a total ass. Her hand presses to his shoulder and he catches his breath. 

"Don’t hold your breath," she tells him as her fingers begin to work the muscle. 

He forces himself to breath, even if it’s through gritted teeth. She may not know acupuncture, but her small hands dig into his tense muscles and gently coax relaxation from them. It hurts like hell but slowly the tension seems to seep out of him as she works her hands on his back and shoulder. She’s precise, but the movement isn’t cold. When she comes to his front he looks down at her as she focuses on his skin, her fingers just barely avoiding his nipple. 

"You’re good at this," he says finally, his voice light. 

She doesn’t reply as she moves her hands down his arm. Even with all the touching that’s been done to his once untouched scars, Mako’s touch is different. It’s more intimate, and not just because they’re both almost naked in the water. She seems to know the parts that hurt the most, when to be gentle and when to be firmer. When her thumbs dig into his elbow he jerks away reflexively and she glances up and glares at him.

"Hold still," she orders.

"That—" he stops when the glare sharpens, “yeah," he says instead, “sorry."

She nods and continues her work as he fights to hold still. By the time her hand has reached his fingers his bad arm feels equal parts like jelly and a million bucks. She lowers her hands and he goes to raise his arm, but her fingers press to his shoulders. She lacks the brute strength to force him under the water, but all she has to do is touch him and he complies.

He looks over at her as she settles herself against the wall. Her eyes are closed and her head is back against the rocks but she doesn’t look relaxed. He makes his way over to her as quietly as he can and sits next to her. She’s giving off every signal that she doesn’t want to be touched or spoken to but he’s content in the silence. He’s had those times too. Still submerged he rolls his shoulder as he settles next to her. 

"They named Herc Marshall today," she says finally, her voice thick with anger and shame at her own emotions.

He nods wordlessly. He’s heard the news. Herc is good—he’s great even. He understands everything and he’ll be a good leader. But this time last week Stacker was the Marshall and in charge of the shatterdome. And despite all the logic and necessity behind the decision, Mako doesn’t like the idea that he’s so easily replaced. It makes no sense but Raleigh is very familiar with things not making sense and happening all the same. 

"It’s alright to miss him," he says finally, feeling the need to get the words out between them.

Mako opens one eye and Raleigh braces himself for the fallout. But that one eye is too bright and though he can see her struggling to hold back the emotion, he knows it’s a losing battle. The tear that breaks free is followed all too rapidly by another. Clumsily he reaches forward and pulls his co-pilot towards him. She stiffens slightly before collapsing against him, her face burying in his good shoulder as she cries. 

Raleigh holds her to him as she sobs, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close before her legs can buckle. He lowers them both to the seat that runs around the perimeter of the pool and sits with her while she finally lets herself lose control over the death of her adoptive father. And if his arm aches a little at the thought of what Stacker would do if he saw them together in their underwear, well, he finds that oddly fitting.


	14. Prompt 14 (Mako, Raleigh, Flirting)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Raleigh gets flirty with Mako during an inappropriate moment. 
> 
> Pairing: None unless you squint
> 
> Warnings: None

"Mako?"

Mako looks over at Raleigh as they stand in the prep room. Their battle armor has been removed, leaving them just in their tight circuitry suits. Mako is dreaming of getting the thing off her. The adrenaline of battle has left her feeling like all she wants to do is crawl under the covers and sleep until it’s time for the assault on the Breach. But Raleigh calls her name and she quickly turns to face him.

She’s been inside his mind twice now and she knows everything about him. He knows the same about her. Still he hesitates. The thought bubbles up in Mako’s mind, though she knows it isn’t really her thought alone. Wordlessly she nods so he doesn’t have to say it and follows him into his room. It’s much more sparse than hers, but everything he owns fits into a backpack and everything he cares about fits into his pocket. 

"Turn around," she tells him.

He turns and she runs her fingers along his shoulder until she finds the clasp. Drive Suits provide an interface between the pilots and each other and the Jaeger. They are a smooth, unbroken, complex suit. Which means they are horrible to get on and worse to get off. It’s his first time being in a Jaeger fight and she knows his arm is practically numb. His other hand is shaking, though he’s pretended enough to keep it steady in front of everyone.

She’s trembling too but not as badly. And she’s studied the suits enough to know exactly how they work. Her fingers undo the first of the clasps and move onto the second, carefully loosening the suit. She reaches out and pinches the tips of his gloves. He carefully pulls his hand out and up, sliding it through the neck hole with some difficulty. She ducks around to the other side and repeats the process as he shimmies the suit down to his waist.

Her throat tightens as she tries to look at the pooled rubber instead of the man in front of her. It isn’t that she hasn’t seen a naked man before. It’s just that, well, she’s been inside his mind. She’s fought with him and she knows him as well as he knows himself. It’s a two way street meaning he knows exactly why the tips of her ears are so red at the moment. 

"Not exactly how you thought you’d see me naked the first time," he says, going for humor. She shakes her head, not trusting her voice, “hang on," he says," and grabs a towel, wrapping it around his waist as she loosens the seams on his legs and helps him pull the suit the rest of the way off, “thanks," he says. 

She nods her head and turns to go. 

"Mako?" he raises his eyebrows.

"I can—" she begins.

"Manage?" he finishes, the questioning edge still in his voice, “Mako turn around."

She wants to try for one more protest but she knows it will take hours before she gets out of the suit on her own and she isn’t sure that she’s got it in her. Her modesty is ridiculous, she knows that. He’s seen her body through her own eyes, it’s not like there’s anything new there. But still when he gently undoes the clasp, her breath catches.

"You know it’s tradition," he points out, “helping each other out of these things."

"For pilots who are—" she trails off.

"What? The same sex? What about the Kadinovskys?"

"That’s different," she says as the suit loosens and he comes over to her fingertips, “they’re married."

"They weren’t always," he points out as he comes to her hand and grips the fingertips of her gloves, “definitely weren’t the first time they did this."

She rolls her eyes and pulls her hand up towards her neck, mimicking the gesture he’s done a thousand times. When he’s still standing there her hand freezes and she glares at him. 

"Turn around," she demands. He raises his eyebrows and follows her, “I don’t care that you’ve seen," she adds, “this is different."

"How?" he asks and there’s no malice in the question.

"It’s not through my eyes," she says working an arm free. He holds out a towel and she grabs it, “okay," she tells him. He turns back around and comes to her other hand, holding the glove as she wiggles out of the suit, adjusting the towel over her top half as she pushes it down.

She doesn’t mean to make this awkward. But no-one sees her naked. Not even Stacker. And despite everything that they’ve been through she isn’t sure she’s ready to add Raleigh seeing her naked with his own eyes on top of it. She sits down and extends a leg as he finds the clasps that loosen the suit. Her eyes remain firmly on the floor as he loosens one leg and then the other. 

She misses his face fall at her silence. He knows this is all new territory to her and hes resolved to let her come to terms with everything in her own time. But it’s difficult when his heart is leaping with the adrenaline and joy of being back in a Jaeger, of having another copilot, especially one as strong as Mako. 

"You know I thought they’d have figured out a way to make these things not so awful by the time I got back," he tries. She doesn’t look up so he continues, “I mean, they’re better than what we used to wear. You practically had to grease up to get out of those things."

"Hansen says he used corn starch," she says finally, her voice soft.

"I bet those suits smelled delicious," he says tapping her foot. 

She points her toes and he tugs one leg off, then the other. Immediately she stills and he knows why. No-one touches his scars either. Hers are better hidden. He doubts most people know they’re there. But the sole of her foot is as decorated as his arm and leg. He watches her cheeks color and can’t let this get any more awkward. His hand his gentle on her ankle as he looks at the pale skin. 

"You ever try tennis balls?" he asks. She looks at him curiously, “Yancy I used to use them after runs. They help."

She looks at him. His hand is warm on her ankle and she knows he’s trying not to make this awkward. This is what people do—this is what pilots do. And he’s seen how badly she wants all of it. She dips her head before looking back up at him, trying to figure out how to tell him she’s sorry for making it all awkward. But he shakes his head and looks at her. 

"You know I hear Sasha punched Alexis the first time they did this," he says with a smile, “we beat them on that front."

"But we aren't going to get married in six months," she points out as she lowers her leg and gets to her feet. 

He laughs and goes over to the top bunk, pulling down a small green ball and offering it to her. She takes it from him with a murmured thank you and collects her suit, heading to her own room to try out what he’s suggested.

It isn't until four and a half months later when they’re laying in bed together, rings on their fingers that she realizes he never quite agreed with her that day.


	15. Prompt 15 (Maleigh, Injured Verse 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Raleigh is hurt after the battle and for whatever reason it takes the helicopters a while to get there. Mako has to keep him alive and/or talking until help gets there.
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket if you squint 
> 
> Warnings: Gore

She’s so relieved that he’s alive when he tells her he can’t breathe because she’s holding him tightly she isn’t even mad.

They wind up on top of the pod, straddling it. Mako knows help is on it’s way, but as she and Raleigh share the same air, their foreheads pressed together she can’t be bothered to give a damn. It’s over, it’s finally over but even the impossible weight of that doesn’t seem to register as his breath comes hot on her face. 

Except she calms and he doesn’t. 

Her eyes open to see his features are peaceful. Too peaceful. His breath is heavy but when she looks she sees how pale he is. Suddenly her heart is somewhere around her ankles as she reaches out and places her hands on his shoulders, steadying him as she leans back. His entire weight seems to sag forward and her eyes widen. She barely manages to guide him until he’s laying back without flipping over the pod. 

"Raleigh, Raleigh," she says his name low and urgently. 

"We did it," he says and she can see his lips are the only part of him that isn’t pale. 

Her eyes widen before she pushes off the pod, swimming to the opening where she ripped off the hatch. Her fingers fumble for the kit stored inside and it takes her another attempt before she undoes the latch and pulls it free. She jumps back up onto the pod, situating herself by his head as she tears open the kit and finds the small screwdriver she’s looking for. 

"What’re you—"

"It’s alright," she says, aligning it with the first of the screws and setting to work. It’s when she gets to his right side that he groans. Her fingers press against his side. His armor is wet and she knows it isn’t from the water. She wants to unscrew it, to rip it apart but she knows that the compression might be the only thing that’s keeping him alive. 

Instead she grabs his helmet and pulls it on. Hers is far away but his comm link still works fine. 

"This is Mori," she says, “Becket is injured. I repeat, Becket is injured. We need help, now."

"Mori, what’s his condition."

"He’s bleeding out," she says.

"Mori listen to me, do not remove his armor. Help’s going to be there soon—"

She doesn’t listen to the rest of it because Raleigh’s eyes have closed and before she knows it she’s ripped the helmet off and thrown it to the side. It goes against protocol, it brings her one step closer to everything she accused him of being. But right now the world has narrowed to a single point and all she can focus on are the increasingly unsteady breaths escaping Raleigh’s lips.

"Raleigh!" she shouts his name and nearly falls off with relief when his features tighten before his eyes open, “you have to stay awake," she tells him. 

His eyes are open but his pupils are blown wide. She knows he isn’t laying there. Not really. 

"I have to get her out," he gasps and her heart seems to clench. Her fingers tighten on his armor as she feels him begin to tremble, “She can’t die in here." 

Everything seems to clench at his words and she knows he’s back in Gipsy’s cockpit, preparing to save the world. There are malfunctions and sparks and so much pressure, but his focus is on getting her out. Mako knows he’s succeeded, the second escape pod floating away is proof of that. But his eyes are on some invisible point, some far off place and she knows he doesn’t understand he’s already succeeded. 

"You have to get out too," she tells him instead, emotion overpowering her and reverting her back to Japanese, “both pilots have to get out." 

"Yancy didn’t," he gasps out. 

Her eyes squeeze shut before she forces them back open. They’re already full of tears. She knows Yancy as well as Raleigh does, knows him as Raleigh does. His death is a vicious ache in her chest. But she knows it is not purely her ache. No more than the raw pain in his chest is her loss. She has her own monsters, her own demons. Now she has his as well. It’s part of the drift, part of the burden they share. It’s twice as heavy, twice as all encompassing. 

But you aren’t supposed to bear it alone. 

Whether or not they ever drift again, Raleigh is a part of her now. He’s seen her kna way she doesn’t know if anyone else ever will—and she doesn’t want them too. It’s not just that they’ve drifted, it’s that he understands. He understands everything she never has the words to say. Understands every shameful feeling she fights to control, every awful impulse, every dark corner. He’s been through the tunnel she’s lost in and she knows she’s pushed him out the other side. But a part of her still feels lost. And as shameful as it is to admit, she needs him to show her how to get out. 

"You did," she tells him. 

"Shouldn’t have," he slurs out, “should have died with him. With Gipsy." 

She fights the block in her throat as she looks down at him. She knows its the blood loss and the oxygen deprivation that’s stealing his control, that what he’s saying shouldn’t matter. But it guts her like she’s the one with a wound. His eyes close and open again, struggling to focus on what’s going on. One of Mako’s hands lifts up and smoothes back his hair, resting on his forehead. His eyes move over to her and she shifts him to get a better grip. 

"You’re okay," she lies, her words choked and garbled, “We made it out." 

"That’d be more believable—" he gasped out, “if you weren’t crying." 

She bites her lip hard, looking down at his face. She listens for the sound of the helicopters but can only hear the unsteady sound of him breathing and her pulse racing in her ears. She thinks she’s cried more over the past few days than she has in her entire life. But there is so much weight in her head now, so many new feelings and memories she can barely sort through all of them. And the person who understands, who knows her better than she knows herself now, is slipping away in her arms. 

"Mako," he breathes her name. 

She bites back a sound as she sees him loosing focus. Her fingers are tight against the plating of his armor as though if she holds on tight enough she can keep him close. Logically she knows she can’t. But her fingers still try, ignoring the guilt she feels when a sound escapes ghe back of his throat as his body tenses for a moment. Even a blind man could see how much pain he’s in, how exahusted he is. And for a moment she wonders if it’s selfish for her to grip him so tight, to try so hard to keep him with her. if it wouldn’t be better to let him go. 

The thought is gone as soon as it comes. People letting Raleigh go is what’s gotten them in this position. People thinking that letting go is alright, that the other person will be fine and strong without them. Mako’s seen where that road leads and drinking herself silly on a stupid fucking wall is not something she has any interest in. She shifts him to get a hand free and grabs the small knife included in the kit. 

"You’ve gotta stay with me," she tells him first in Japanese and then in English as she cuts the wrists of her suit to get her hands free and then slides the knife through the exposed part of his suit, sliding a hand inside 

There’s so much blood. 

She’s spent most of her life on military bases. She’s not a squeemish person. But it’s Raleigh’s blood and somehow that makes it worse. She shoves back the feeling and slides her hands along the hard ridges of muscle, feeling for the source of the bleeding. Its a short, gaping wound and next to it she can feel something hard. Something stuck inside him. She doesn’t know what to do about that, but she knows what to do with the open one. She slides her hand out and grabs what she’s looking for from the kit. 

"I’m sorry," she whispers, adjusting her other arm around him and tightening her legs around the pod as she slides her hand through his suit again and angles the packet. 

"What are you—" he cuts himself off with a broken cry as she activates it and the smell of burning flesh fills the air. 

He’s trembling and barely coherent when the medics get there and Mako wants to kill them all. She settles for breaking someone’s nose when they try to put her in another chopper. Two of the medics are older and when they look at her they seem to know exactly what she’s thinking. They let her on board as they get to work. She crouches by him as they cut off his armor and rip open his suit. When she sees the damage in its entirety she barely gets the bucket the medics hand her in time. 

Except the mind shes with is blank. She thinks it’s the only explanation for how horrifyingly numb she feels. How still she is as she watches them insert a tube down his throat and slide needles through his skin. They’re ten minutes out when his heart stops. They rip his wired suit off faster than she thinks is possible to shock him back to life. It takes three times and she feels like she’s the one whose heart has stopped as his body jerks with electricity. 

There is no time for her to argue when they rip him away. 

The adrenaline is seeping out of her and there’s an odd buzzing in her ears. She doesnt know if she’s made things better or worse. All she can see are the doors where they took him. All she can feel is the blood on her hands. She steps forward towards the doors, determined to follow him. But her legs are like jelly and when she steps forward the floor rushes up to meet her and it all goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of the Injured Verse


	16. Prompt 16 (Maleigh, Wedding Vows)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako/Raleigh wedding vows?
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket 
> 
> Warnings: None

His hands are shaking as he ties his haori in place.

The clothing isn’t too unfamiliar, but its nothing like what he’s worn before. The fabric is so fine it seems almost shameful for him to touch it with his calloused hands. It’s not that he feels out of place in the garments themselves, it’s that he feels out of place being so clean and so nicely dressed.

which is kind of stupid since showing up to his own wedding covered in grease would probably get him murdered by Herc and then again by Stacker.

"Do I need to get you a bag so you don’t hyperventilate, Becket?"

He glares over his shoulder at Chuck who grins back. Two years later and the long road of recovery is still stretching in front of him. Getting caught in a nuclear blast and still drifting when someone’s dying will do that to someone. But even with his prosthetics and scars, Chuck is still determined to get back in a Jaeger. Raleigh has no doubt he will. And as the other pilot likes to remind him, as long as he does it in less than five years he’ll still have him beat.

"I’m fine," he snaps back at him.

"Good, because you’re late," he says.

"Shit," Raleigh swears as Chuck gets to his feet and slaps his artificial leg. Max jumps down and trots besides them as they make their way to the elevator and up to the top of the scaffolding.

"As your best man I’m supposed to say something insightful or something," the younger pilot says. Raleigh looks over at him with a raise of his eyebrows. Chuck fingers the top of his cane before shrugging, “Don’t fuck it up," he says, “or I’ll feed you to Max."

Max barks and Raleigh raises his eyebrows at the pair of them. But the lift doors open before he can say anything. He looks at the gap in the scaffolding. The platform’s been set up with seats and it looks like most of the shatter dome is there. The Gipsy Danger who stands in front of them like a beacon only shares a few sheets of metal with the old one. But she is theirs and she is beautiful. As is Striker Eureka, Coyote Tango and the rest of the refitted Mark 6 Jaegers.

Squaring his shoulders, she heads down the aisle and waits for Mako.

Their wedding is a mix of traditions and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Everyone in the shatterdome has done something to make this day special. It makes his throat tighten when he thinks of all of it. But then everyone is standing and looking and Raleigh follows their gaze and forgets how to breathe.

She’s so beautiful.

He can’t look away. The white clothing she wears is as traditional as his own. But hers is a gift from Stacker. He carried them with him from shatterdome to shatterdome, protecting them for her for this day. He isn’t sure if Stacker would be happy it’s him waiting at the end of the aisle, but he likes to think he wouldn’t have too many objections. The neon from the Jaegers paints a golden glow on her, making her look almost otherworldly. Except their eyes catch and she actually winks at him and it takes everything for him not to shout at Herc to move faster down the aisle.

Finally they get there and his hand is slid in hers. They don’t have a priest. They do have Choi though. Usually he has no problem listening to Choi but Mako’s face is naked with emotion and that emotion is joy and he can’t quite hear anything else until her eyebrows raise.

"Sorry, what?" He looks over at Choi.

"You vows," Choi prods.

"Right, right," he scratches the back of his neck self consciously before he grasps her hands in his, “Mako," he begins. It takes him a moment to get his tongue to switch from English to her native Japanese. He’s gotten much better but switching between the languages isn’t as seamless for him, “even before we met I think you knew me better than I knew myself. From that first day you didn’t take any of my crap. You made me want to be better," his fingers tighten on hers, “We saved the world once and we’re going to do it again," he says his voice leaving no room for argument, “and we’re going to do it while living happily ever after."

It’s a childish notion but he’s getting married in front of a Jaeger to a petite woman he never could have imagined meeting and now cannot imagine his life without. Her own fingers are tight on his, skin every bit as calloused and rough. She looks up at him and smiles so openly he half wants to carry her off the platform and skip the reception and all that. 

"When we first met," she says in English, “i said you weren’t what I was expecting and you asked me if that was better or worse," she smiles at him, “it was worse. Much worse," he laughs as she looks at him, “and I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else inside my head," she says, her gaze softening as she switches back to Japanese, “you are my other half," she tells him, “I love you."

He knows he’s supposed to wait until Choi tells him to but he ducks his head and kisses her anyway. Distantly he can hear everyone cheering, Choi included. There’s more to the ceremony but he can’t bring himself to care. She’s his other half already, he can wait another minute for her to be his wife.


	17. Prompt 17 (Mako, Raleigh, Drift Suits)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: After Mako arrives as his partner and asks "Are you going to say anything?" And Raleigh just tells her: "No point. Five minutes you'll be inside my head...You look good." (unf) So the actual prompt is: Mako's reaction to Raleigh's reaction to her. :)
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket if you squint
> 
> Warnings: None

Mako holds herself still as they fit the armor to her. 

The crew is trying to remain professional but they’re all smiles. Not in a snide way, but in a way like the day they’ve been waiting for is here. She thinks they’ve wanted her to be Gipsy’s second pilot since Stacker announced this plan. They’ve certainly planned for it. She knows very well that armor does not come in her size. Especially not the female kind. But they plates they fit on her feel like they were made specifically for her even though there hasn’t been time for that. 

Two men escort her to the lift and give her a salute. 

She returns it and steps inside, letting the doors close in front of her. The lift rises up the scaffolding and she feels like everyone’s eyes are on her again. Like she’s that little girl in the blue coat, clutching her red shoe and crying for her mother. She shoves the feeling down and holds herself a little straighter as the lift gets to the top of the scaffolding. The bridge that separates her from Gipsy’s cockpit seems impossibly long and foreboding. 

Mako doesn’t think she’s ever felt more out of place. 

She imagines anyone would, were they in her boots. She’s a replacement pilot. The chances of this actually working are slim. Her head is a dark place, even she doesn’t like getting lost in there. In the pit of her stomach she feels like Gipsy is judging her. Like the Jaeger knows it should be Yancy or one of the other candidates making this walk, not her. But then she remembers the way Raleigh looked at her, the feel of his hand on her back and the confidence in his voice. ‘She’s my co-pilot’. He may be wrong, but Mako will not let him down so easily. 

She steps forward with one foot, then the other, forcing herself not to sprint lest she lose her nerve. She comes to the cockpit and squares her shoulders before peering inside. Raleigh has his back to the entrance, his eyes moving across the new modifications to the cockpit. Gipsy’s shinier and newer, but the original pieces that could be used are still there. She watches him press his hand to one like an old friend before coming over to the pilot rig, taking the side his brother used. 

"I’m gonna take this side if you don’t mind. My left arm’s kinda shot," he says and Mako fights not to blush. 

Of course he’s heard her come in. He’s a Jaeger pilot. He still isn’t looking though. A part of her wants to tell him she knows his arm isn’t the only reason he’s taking that side, but the rest of her pushes that thought away. Instead she walks forward as he begins to make adjustments to the rig, still not looking at her. 

"Sure," she says and it’s a miracle her voice is steady.

His eyes raise and for a moment she can see how impossible this is. How much it hurts him to be back in the cockpit, to know that the co-pilot who would walk through the doors won’t be Yancy. That he’s going to have to invite someone else into his head, that he’s going to have to pilot Gipsy without him. He’s so open with his emotions Mako’s surprised he’s lasted this long. Even his attempt at keeping his face blank falls miles short. 

And then it all drains away. 

There’s still pain there but now there’s relief. Relief and surprise—but not the bad kind—and to Mako’s everlasting shock his face splits into a smile that borders on a grin. His entire posture seems to relax at the sight of her and Mako is profoundly grateful she doesn’t blush easily. He just looks at her, still smiling and for the first time since she pulled on her suit she smiles back at him.

"Aren’t you going to say anything?" she asks him. 

"No point," he says with a shake of his head, “five minutes you’ll be inside my head."

The reminder wipes the smile from her face and sends her stomach plummeting. But he softens and when he looks at her there’s something like pride in his eyes. Like being her co-pilot is not something to be ashamed of. 

"You look good," he says and suddenly despite all the nerves the smile is back. 

Then they’re strapped in and connected and suddenly she’s not just herself anymore. 

She doesn’t just look good in his eyes. 

She looks beautiful.


	18. Prompt 18 (Mako, Raleigh, Chuck, everyone lives)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: If I could send you a prompt that isn't Maleigh? After Mako and Rals have been picked up. They discover a third life pod with a dimishing lifesign, an unconscious, critically hurt Chuck.
> 
> Pairing: None
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of injures, therapy

They straddle the pod, leaning their foreheads against each other and reveling in the adrenaline from saving the world.

They’re so lost in the joy of the moments it’s a miracle they hear the sucking sound. Raleigh turns towards it at the moment Mako tenses. His hand grasps hers, his mind going to everything from Kaiju vengeance to the monster sharks in those movies he watched with Yancy. They didn’t come all this way to get eaten by a shark. Except what breaks the water isn’t a limb or a dorsal fin, its a handle. And it only comes up for a second before sinking down.

"Mako!"

He shouts for her but she’s already in the water, swimming towards it. She opens her eyes to see it’s a pod. She sucks in a breath and dives down. The pod is a twisted, broken wreck and she can see the air pouches haven’t all inflated. Her fingers lock around the handle as she gropes for the manual release. They inflate and yank her and the pod to the surface. Raleigh helps her get the pod to his, steadying it somewhat. She helps him get back up before grabbing the kit that’s stashed in the pods. 

The pod is mangled and burned, but she can see the bulldog. Her hands grab the glass breaker and get the plexiglass off the top. The helmet is cracked and fogged but she can see the red. Her fingers find the latches and she pulls it off him, desperate to confirm who’s underneath. Chuck looks horribly young, like he’s a kid instead of someone who just saved the world. Distantly she can hear Raleigh shouting into his comm but she’s already ripping off her wrist guards so she can angle her wrists better. She puts her face near Chuck’s mouth but there’s nothing and then she’s pinching his nose and sealing her lips over his.

Raleigh gets his torso out of the pod and rips apart enough of his armor to get to his chest. She breathes for him as he pumps his chest and somehow together they keep the young pilot alive long enough for the medics to get there and take over. 

Four hours later they’re in scrubs, Herc looks like he’s going to vomit and Max is crying at their feet.

Raleigh’s on enough pain killers to make focus a distant memory but his shoulder isn’t agony for once. Mako’s cradling an oxygen tank with a mask over her face. They should both be in hospital beds with more than a quick check up but both have informed the doctors their attention is needed elsewhere. That elsewhere has gone on for nine hours and probably will more. Mako’s grateful. Every hour the doctor doesn’t come through the door is another hour when they have hope Chuck will come through this. 

They get four more hours.

The doctor emerges finally. They’re all used to the sight of blood and sweat, but they pale at the sight of his face. He doesn’t wait until he’s fully in the room before telling them Chuck’s alive. Not out of the woods, not good, but he’s stable. Two others appear behind him and Mako and Raleigh find themselves pushed into wheelchairs and steered away. Herc stands there for a second, not sure how to form the words before two men appear holding scrubs and masks for him and a third offers to take Max on a much needed walk. 

in some ways it’s like seeing Chuck for the first time all over again.

Herc just stares and stares, unwilling to look away for even a fraction of a second. Machines are doing most things for Chuck. They’re breathing and hydrating and pumping waste from his damaged body. But his heart’s beating strong and Herc doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to repay Stacker for this. Not in a thousand lifetimes. clumsily he drags a chair to the bed and sits down. He can’t hold his sons hand, not yet. But he can watch over him.

It’s weeks before Chuck blearily opens his eye. 

Mako has the watch when he does and for the first time many years she is truly speechless. But then she’s moving, screaming for the doctors in a language they don’t speak. Chuck would point that out but there’s something down his throat and the world is slipping away. He makes a note to be snarky when he wakes up, no point in worrying anyone. 

Three days later the tube down his throat now snakes through his nostrils. His wrists are pinned to the bed. He knows he’s injured but when they tell him the extent of the damage he looses it just a little. He may not have a right leg anymore but he’s got a right hand and the doctor has a perfectly good nose. Or had one anyway. The purple around his eyes when he comes in makes chuck feel a bit better.

Not as good as he does when someone finally brings Max in. 

The dog hops up on the bed and finds the space where his leg used to be. He immediately settles there and doesn’t move for hours except to glare when Chuck dares to stop petting him. It’s the most physical movement he’s done in weeks. 

Surprisingly enough it’s Becket he tolerates the most. Mako has an edge of sadness about her that reminds him he made it out and Stacker didn’t. And he puts on a show for his dad because Herc’s the Marshall now and Chuck isnt going to let him fuck it up. Not on his account. But Becket seems to get what he’s feeling, gets how fucked up his head is. 

He doesn’t say anything to that effect, he just sits there. When the tv’s busted he somehow gets a laptop, probably from Mako, and puts on stupid movies so Chuck doesn’t have to be alone with his thoughts. When physical therapy starts Raleigh is there. Not because of kindness but because he’s managed to fuck up his own shoulder again. 

It becomes a competition of sorts. 

The physical therapists threaten to quit but Mako glares them obedience. He catches Newt and Hannibal watching them once and finds out he’s the favorite to rehabilitate first but Chuck’s the favorite get in a fight first. He tells this to the pilot who scoffs as if the idea of anything else insane and pushes the treadmill just a little faster as Max trots happily alongside him.


	19. Prompt 19 (Stacker Pentecost, Protective Hot Dad)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: His thoughts during the Mako/Raleigh fight 'its a dialogue' scene.
> 
> Pairing: None, but don't tell Stacker that
> 
> Warnings: None

In the moment all Stacker Pentecost can think is that he does not like Raleigh Becket.

He is a man who prizes control above all else. A fixed point. He has watched Raleigh grow from a young punk ass kid to the pilot of Gipsy Danger. He knows the burden of controlling a Jaeger on your own. He should be nothing but impressed with the bruised, broken, scraping-himself-back-together man who has the balls to even attempt finding another copilot. 

Except right now he feels neither in control nor like someone whose proud of Raleigh. He feels like someone who wants to grab the staff from his hand, beat him across the face and tell him to stay the hell away from his daughter. 

He doesn’t. 

Mako is not his daughter, he reminds himself. She is his pupil, she is his right hand, but above all else she is his fixed point. Tokyo’s daughter does not belong to one man, but if she did that man would be buried with the ashes of her city. He is not her father. It is a shield he uses when he feels too close, feels too much like he wants to lock her in her room or cut the blue out of her hair or tell her that she can’t stay up all hours of the night pouring of Jaeger plans. 

He clings to that thought as his fingers tighten behind his back. They are after a dialogue between two pilots. A push and a pull, equals who can fit together like puzzle pieces. Two parts of a three part whole. They have a dialogue. Anyone with an eye can see that, and he thinks a blind person could probably see that too. 

Just like they can see exactly what that dialogue issaying. 

And it sure as hell isn't about Kaiju or Jaegers. 

Sternly he tells himself he is not her father and he is not about to start acting like one now. He focuses instead on the way the others are looking, like for the first time they believe this might actually work. Then his eyes go to Raleigh who actually doesn’t seem miserable for once. And finally to Mako who has a gleam in her eyes he isn’t sure he’s ever seen before. 

He can detach himself enough to see that what they are doing is beautiful. Her sharp precision matches his power. He’s taller and bigger but she’s a hair faster and she knows how to take on bigger opponents. They’re the only kind she fights. They trade blows across the floor, giving their all and yet still looking out for each other. It’s a beautiful sight to see and he knows what’s coming. He’s been dreading the day since he took Mako to her fist day at the Jaeger academy. 

But then she dives and winds up in between Raleigh’s legs and he’s on his back looking up at her with a smile. 

"I’ve seen enough!" Stacker says and somehow his voice is steady.

Which is funny because the first step he takes he’s dead sure he’s going to go beat Raleigh to a pulp if he ever lets Mako near that area of himself again. The Mako salutes and Raleigh pronounces and Stacker wonders how the hell he got himself into this mess in the first place. It’s not until the boy chases him down to ask him to reconsider that he realizes this is a losing battle and he cannot hold Mako close forever. 

Later in his bunk he sends up a silent apology to his father for ever judging how he treated Luna’s boyfriends.


	20. Prompt 20 (Maleigh, Shower Smut)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Shower Smut
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: Should be self explanatory but yeah, there's smut.

Hot water is a luxury Raleigh isn’t used to having.

war rations have slackened since there is no war and its been more than five minutes but the hot water isn’t turning off. He stands under the spray and let’s the heat pound is sore muscles. No war doesn’t mean no training and it also doesn’t mean no Jaegers apparently. He’s full of emotion and the adrenaline is slowly seeping out of him as he braces a hand on the tiles and tries not to think of his last drift.

Drifting with someone you’re attracted to, it turns out, is much more difficult. It isn’t to say he doesn’t respect the hell out of Mako, because he does. But he’s also very very attracted to her. You bear your whole soul in the drift. Every dark corner of yourself. Every feeling, every thought.

Every fantasy.

He wonders if Sasha and Alexis had this problem. He doesn’t want to think about her that way, no more than she wants to think about him. But hers is a darkness of a different kind. It’s lips and arms and passionate embraces. Which makes him a sick person because his isn’t. His is thrusts and bites and her calling out his name as they fuck. She’s seen it too, worse she’s felt what he feels when he thinks about it. She doesn’t call him out on it, she never would. But she doesn’t exactly saying anything when she leaves either. 

He groans when he realizes how hard he is. Just when his fingers are heading south he hears the door open. Then it closes and someone locks it. His head flies up as he glances over his shoulder. The showers are communal, thin curtains and short walls giving some kind of privacy. So when the figure appears silhouetted and it’s Makos, Raleigh forgets how to breathe. 

She steps inside and looks at him.

She’s steady but he can see something isn’t quite right. Her pupils are dilated and her lips are flushed. She’s toying with the edge of the towel and he can see the nerves in her eyes. She keeps her gaze on him but its impossible to miss how ready he is for her. For a moment neither of them move. Like they usually do in these situations he cracks first. His tongue darts out and wets his lips as he looks at her. 

"Mako," he breathes her name, his voice rough around the syllabus. 

She reaches for the towel but he steps forward, holding her hands there and ducking his head to kiss her. He tries to start slow but she makes a soft sound and pressed herself forward and he complies instantly. The change is so welcome he has to turn them and brace a hand on the wall. 

His fingers undo the towel and throw it in the general direction of his own. The press of their bodies makes him groan low in his throat. There’s no armor or drift suit or even a fucking towel between them now. Mako gives as good as she gets. He pins her to the wall and her hands dig into his lower back, pulling him closer. Her hips buck lightly against his and he practically looses it right there. 

Instead he pulls her back to the spray of the shower, letting the water beat down on them as he ducks his head to suck the soft skin of her neck. He feels one of her legs move up, toes scraping the side of his calf. he’s usually better at foreplay but there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her. He doesn’t break their contact as he moves his arms, wrapping them around her and sliding them underneath her form.

She feels weightless when he lifts her, but at the same time she’s the realist, most grounding thing he knows. She’s a fixed point. Her legs wrap around him as he steadies them before he shifts her slightly and slides into her wet heat. She cries out softly and he buries his face in the place where her neck and shoulder meet. Her hands are around his shoulders and through his hair as she arches her back.

The hot water beats on his back as he moves. It’s rough but she’s all soft and steel and from the first thrust her hips move to meet his. He barely remembers to breathe as they move together, the smell of oil and metal still heavy on her skin. He can feel himself getting close to loosing control. He braces himself and her against the tiles of the shower as he reaches between their bodies with his other hand. 

She throws her head back and he doesn’t think he’s seen something so beautiful before in his entire life. She’s lost in the feelings. All that precious control of hers is gone. He’s seen glimpses of this before, but never like this. And he knows what she’s feeling. He thrusts harder as he moves his fingers and she slips further apart. He doesn’t want to look away but his body has other plans and he leans forward, burying his face in her skin as she tightens around him.

She calls out his name, voice heavy with her accent and he’s gone.

When the world makes sense again they’re still in the shower. One of his arms is wrapped around her. The other is braced against the tiles, steadying them both. Her legs are around him and so is one of her arms. The other is buried in his hair. Slowly he peels away his other arm and wraps it around her, holding her carefully. He kisses her softly as he pulls out. She sighs into his mouth and shudders with the last of it. He steadies her as she steps under the spray. He’s about to turn and go but her fingers grab his wrist and put a shampoo bottle in his hands.

He steps back under the spray with her and mentally aplogizes to whoever comes after them when she arches her back to rinse her hair.

there isn’t going to be any hot water left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic right now has 69 likes on tumblr
> 
> I feel like I shouldn't find that as amusing as I do


	21. Prompt 21 (Mako, Raleigh, Pictures of the Dead)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Herc giving Mako a picture of her and Chuck as children and Raleigh's reaction to finding out that they used to be very good (possibly even best) friends.
> 
> Pairing: None 
> 
> Warnings: None

He hears her crying. 

Well, not hears exactly. Her door is shut. But he swears he hears something and crosses the hallway. When he goes to knock on her door he finds it already open, as if she was waiting for him. Which, in the scheme of things, isn’t really all that surprising. His heart aches when he sees her. She’s curled up on the bed, facing the wall. Her face is buried in the pillow but he can hear the soft sounds she’s making.

Carefully he closes the door and turns the lock. He makes his way over to the bed and sits down before he eases himself back and fits his body around hers. She curls tighter around herself but he slides his arms along hers, wrapping her in his embrace. The only acknowledgement he gets is she lifts her head from the pillow, not trying to hide the tears anymore. 

It’s hours before she quiets. 

When she does she stills in his arms but makes no move to get up. He doesn’t force her to. He stays there, listens to her breathe. She moves her hand and he leans forward a little bit to see what her hand is hiding. He’s glad she can’t see the surpris on his face. 

A much younger Mako and Chuck Hansen are looking up at him. 

Their comfort with each other makes him raise his eyebrows because if he didn’t see it in front of him he wouldn’t have believed it was possible. Her hair’s longer, it falls in a braid over her shoulder. They’re holding staffs and wearing the same training uniform. Even Chuck looks innocent and Raleigh can barely wrap his head around what he’s seeing. 

"He got to become a pilot," Mako says softly after a moment in Japanese, “I was jealous."

He says nothing as she tells him about her disgraceful behavior. It doesn’t sound disgraceful to him, but he can hear the shame in her words. She was jealous. They were cut from the same cloth. Raised by pilots, mentored by heroes. Evenly matched in all exams and evaluations. But at the end of the day Herc decided to take his son to become a pilot. 

Mako felt left behind. 

She is not proud of her reaction, her lack of control over her emotions. She’s hurt and upset and doesn’t understand why but no-one will tell her. She’s still in the Jaeger program but her path has veered left while his is still straight ahead. She can barely stand to watch as Striker Eureka and her pilots become famous. 

She gets quieter and he gets louder and the distance grows wider and wider until it’s difficult to remember the two friends who were once thought to be drift compatible. 

Raleigh gently smoothes back her hair as she tells him everything. He doesn’t judge her. He knows how much of an ass Chuck can be, just as he knows how hard it is for Mako to have control over her emotions. She closes her eyes and he reaches out, gently wiping the few tears from her eyes.

She turns her face into his touch. His other hand slides around her back and he gently guides her so she’s tucked into his chest. He wraps both his arms around her and tangles their legs together. Her tears are much quieter but he can feel them all the same. He tightens her arms around her and is quiet as she clings to the memories and tries to figure out how to let her friend go.


	22. Prompt 22 (Mako, Chuck, Raleigh, Apologies)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Before the final mission, Chuck apologizes to Mako for calling her a bitch and for everything that led up to the breaking of their friendship. (I platonically ship them. So hard.) and possibly, for shits and giggles, Mako forgives him with a kiss that Raleigh happens to walk in on.
> 
> Pairing: None, but hints of Maleigh
> 
> Warnings: None

There is not a lot in the world that can surprise Mako Mori. 

She is usually not surprised and when she is she hides it exceptionally well. So when she opens her door to see Chuck Hansen standing there, hands jammed into his pockets and cheeks colored like a naughty schoolboy, its enough of a surprise to make her lips part and her eyes widen. Problem is, Chuck knows how good her emotional control is and the shock on her face makes him wince. 

"What are—"

"I’m sorry," the pilot blurts out and then swears colorfully, “I mean I’m sorry for being an ass to you back there. I know how hard first drifts are," he shakes his head, “I’m sorry for all the other shit too."

Mako swallows. She hasn’t been waiting for this precisely, but when the words leave his mouth some tightly wound part of her seems to relax. The problem with her and Chuck is that they are the same coin. He is brash where she is quiet. She is precise where he is strong. He attracts attention where she blends into the shadows. she is dark and cool, he is bright and hot. 

They are drift compatible. 

Neither has mentioned it in years. There is a lot she and Chuck don’t talk about. Like her shutting down when he went off and became a pilot. Or the fact that she could control the face she showed to the world but not the seeds of jealousy that pulsed inside every time she watched Striker Eureka on the television. Or how every snide remark he made about other mediocre pilots or ones who couldn’t cut and didn’t belong in a Jaeger seemed to be directed at her. 

"I am as well," she says finally.

"Thing is, I didn’t mean to leave you behind," he says clumsily, “but my dad—" 

she covers his hand with her own, silencing him. Herc chose his son and when Chuck had tired to talk to her about it the words got stuck in her throat and she had just congratulated him coldly and wished him the best. She had seen the hurt in his eyes but tears were in hers and she had run before either of them could properly speak. She ran and he let her. 

"You haven’t," she tells him, “we’ll finish this together."

He nods at the sureness in her voice. She doesn’t say what she really means which is that they’ll probably die together. But that’s the code of the Jaeger pilots. In it together until the very end. They wont be in the same Jaeger, but they’ll be together in their own way. His hand turns and lifts hers, bringing it to his lips as he places a kiss on the burn across her knuckles. 

"you’re a hell of a pilot," he says.

"that’s because I stay inside my Jaeger," she tells him.

his laugh is loud and pure, but its the sound of Mako joining in that sends Raleigh to his cracked door. He looks at the two of them, surprised to see Chuck holding her hand and her letting him. They look close. They look relaxed and Mako doesn’t look relaxed with anyone. His eyes widen as he sees her tug him inside her room, closing the door behind him. 

Raleigh turns from the peep hole feeling like a total perv. Mako is free to have whoever she wants over into her room. He’s felt what she feels for Chuck. The effect he has on her. Raleigh goes to the bathroom and splashes cold water on his face. When he raises his head he sees the cut above his eyebrow and the shadows under his eyes. He shakes his head at his reflection.

He has no right to feel jealous.

Chance are they’re going to be dead in a few hours. And even if he’s never really cared about the future, Mako deserves to have one. With whomever she wishes. She doesn’t have to feel the same things he does, in a way he knows he should be glad his thoughts haven’t influenced her at all. Certainly not the same way she’s influenced him. Then again he’s a relic, he’s a dying breed of old pilot. Mako and Chuck are a good fit. If they survive this Raleigh tells himself he’ll be happy for them and move on. The fact that his fingers are gripping the sink hard enough to make the metal creak tells a different story but Raleigh isn’t ready to hear that one yet.

"Your timing sucks, Becket," he mutters to himself as he goes to get dressed.


	23. Prompt 23 (Maleigh, Language Verse 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Raleigh learns the word "koibito" + Mako's reaction
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: Any butchering of Japanese is my fault

Her phone wakes him. 

He groans in protest because he knows what that means. He doesn’t give a shit about his own communications device. No-one really needs to get in touch with him anyway and if they do they know to talk to Mako. But people want to get in touch with Mako all the time. He knows what her life was like before. The not sleeping, the always pushing herself, the answering her phone at all hours of the night. Some things have changed, some have not. But the phone thing is one he wishes like hell would. 

His eyes open when he realizes the damn thing is still ringing and Mako isn’t in bed.

He isn’t alarmed. The light is on in the bathroom, he can see the glimmer from under the door. He considers letting the phone ring, but he doesn’t see a point. It’s not like the whoever is on the other end of the line doesn’t know he’s in the same room as her. He leans over the top bunk and picks up the device, squinting at the word on the screen. Mako’s been practicing his Japanese with him, but its more a conversation than writing.

"Hello?" he answers the phone.

"Yeah I found this phone," the voice on the other end comes, “this was the most called number."

He swears when he realizes he’s lost his phone without even noticing. Even so he swings his legs over the side of the bed and grabs his jeans just to make sure. Mako is really the only person he uses his phone to talk to. Everyone else has no trouble seeking him out, but she’s the one he seeks out. He drags a hand through his hair as he talks to the other person, making arrangements to meet up while simultaneously thinking of just wiping the damn thing.

The bathroom door opens and he sees Mako looking at him. She’s sleep tousled, one strap of her tank top hanging off her shoulder. She gives him a questioning look and he points to her phone. She shakes her head and he gives a sheepish smile. It’s not the first time he’s lost a phone, not even since they met. One of the many reasons his is an old piece of shit instead of the technological marvel he’s holding to his ear. 

He wraps up the conversation and places the phone back on the nightstand before pulling himself up to the top bunk. They don’t need to live in the shatterdome anymore, but leaving hasn’t crossed their minds. When he shows up with his few belongings one day says nothing, just makes room on her Jaeger wall for his pictures. 

"Hey Mako?" he calls down to her, “what’s Koib—" he frowns, working to make his tongue wrap around the unfamiliar word.

"Do you mean Koibito?" she asks, her voice slipping into her native tongue easily.

"Yeah," he says, “what’s it mean?"

"it is a term someone uses to describe someone you love very much," she explains, her voice heavy with sleep.

For the first time he’s glad they’re on separate bunks so she can’t see the grin on his face. It isn’t like he doesn’t know how she feels when it comes to him, but so much has happened they’ve both made a silent agreement to take things slowly. This though makes him think he might have a tiny bit of catching up to do. 

"Why?" Mako asks him after a moment of silence.

"I saw it earlier," he says, unwilling to lie but not wanting to embarrass her, “I didn’t recognize the characters."

"Kanji," she corrects.

"Kanji," he repeats back to her, trying not to let his smile give him away.

He hears her yawn and shifts on the bed, turning his face so he can see the foot hanging off the bed. she’s tiny, but when Mako wants to she can occupy a surprising amount of space. He knows she does in his head. He listens to her breathing steady out and closes his own eyes. He always waits a bit before slipping off, Mako’s night terrors come early and if he can wake her up quickly they sometimes aren’t as bad. But her breathing is even and steady and he feels himself drifting off.

"Ashiteru," he whispers.


	24. Prompt 24 (Maleigh, Language Verse 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Please write a sequel where he tells her "Ashiteru" but she actually is awake to hear him!
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: Any butchering of the Japanese language is my fault

Mako steadies her breathing as she tries to fall asleep.

Going to sleep is not something Mako enjoys. Not even now. It’s bad enough that one time Newt mentioned a serum that would let someone stay away for days without any ill effects and she lit up. Now he still teases her about it. She’s used to pushing herself, after all office work doesn’t require too much sleep. jaeger piloting does though and Raleigh is firm that she has to.

things have gotten better since he started sleeping above her.

Her bunk bed is standard issue, but there was never anyone in the top. Now there is. She likes having him there. He’s explained that the physical closeness, the desire for it, it’s a side effect of the drift. Even if there’s a practical reason, this is one battle Mako finds she does not want to fight. They want to be in the same room and she’s more settled in her space. If she had been in the top bunk she would have moved for him, but as it is she’s didn’t have to make him uncomfortable, even if they both know the reason he wants to be on the top bunk.

she’s quietly meditating, willing herself not to dream, or at least not to dream too horribly. Her breathing is steady, it’s even. It matches Raleigh and to anyone else it looks like she’s sleeping. They’ve said goodnight and she can hear him shift slightly on his right side, getting more comfortable before he drifts off. 

"Ashiteru," he whispers into the darkness and her eyes snap open.

she barely manages to keep her breathing steady as she looks up at the bed. She wants to believe she heard wrong but she knows she didn’t. He’s almost asleep, close enough that heً’s not self conscious about his accent. The way he says it is so pure and honest and meaningful she knows it’s directed at her. 

Her fingertips reach up and gently press against the mattress, light enough so she hopes he doesn’t feel it. They aren’t there yet. they both know how the other feels, they’ve felt it themselves. Everything is laid bare in the drift. But when they aren’t drifting, when they aren’t drifting there’s a world out there. With complications and expectations and so much weight Mako sometimes feels like she cannot breathe. 

In the drift the barriers are gone. Language, societal, all of it is gone. In the drift she knows how he feels and she can show him how she does. Without the words that never seem to come out right. But out in the world they haven’t acknowledged it. Mako thinks its fear holding them back. She’s used to being afraid, but she doesn’t like it at all. Her hand curves along the dip in the mattress made by his hip as she tries to communicate what she doesn’t know how to say. 

"Ashiteru," he repeats and her fingers tighten when she realizes he’s awake and he knows she is too. 

She feels him move and she sits up. In the darkness he looks almost imposing, but she doesn’t feel any fear towards him. Just at the change that’s happening to them. He looks at her, emotion naked on his face and Mako feels like she’s on the edge of a cliff. 

"I love you," he says, bringing himself down so they’re the same height.

he doesn’t invade her space, he just holds her gaze and Mako knows this is do or die time. She moves forward before her mind can catch up. But as she does she feels calmer. Like she isn’t on the edge of the cliff alone. He steps aside as she pushes herself to her feet. One of her hands reach out and press against the thin fabric of his tank, feeling the rapid pace of his heart. His eyes trail from her hand to her face as she looks at him.

"Ashiteru," she whispers finally, “I’m sorry I could not find the words before."

his face breaks into the biggest grin she’s seen. One of his hands reaches out and gently wraps around the back of her neck. His forehead ducks and presses to hers, like it did the day they sealed the bridge. Mako wonders how it is possible to be so elated and so thrilled at the same time. 

They stand in the darkness breathing the same air, sharing the same space. It’s like they’re in the drift. She can feel everything he does, as clearly as if his emotions were her own. His relief washes over her as the words hang between them. Gently, tentatively she moves her head. He follows seamlessly, shifting with her until their lips meet.

it isn’t explosive or passionate. It’s sweet, bordering on gentle. There’s something tentative about it as well, they’ve felt the other kiss but there’s something different about feeling it with your own lips. His hands slip from her neck to her waist as hers wrap around his shoulders. She finds she could kiss him forever. Finally though they pull back and look at each other.

"we should sleep," she says to him finally.

"You always gotta be so practical?" he asks, his smile taking on a teasing edge. 

"Yes," she replies, but makes no move to separate herself. 

"Do you want to talk about this?" he asks finally.

"No point," she says and can’t help but smile, “in two hours you’ll be in my head."

He grins at that.

"two hours?" He shakes his head, “yeah, we need sleep," he says.

His hand remains on her as they walk the few steps over to the bed. He waits until she settles herself on her bottom bunk before he climbs up to his. She sinks into the sheets and smiles faintly, turning her face into the pillow to hide it. 

"Hey Mako?" He calls down to her.

"Yes?" She says.

"Ashiteru."

"Ashiteru, Koibito."


	25. Prompt 25 (Chako, Co-pilots)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Chako: You were supposed to be my co-pilot
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Chuck Hansen 
> 
> Warnings: None

"This is bullshit!" He swears.

Stacker looks at him coolly but Chuck is so angry he doesn’t care. All he can see is his name next to his fathers. And it is such bullshit because this is not the assignment he’s supposed to have. He’s supposed to be with Mako, they’re supposed to pilot the Mark 5 Jaeger together and save the world. She’s is polar opposite and his equal. They’re drift compatible and are tied for the number one spot in their class. Everyone’s told them they’ll be co-pilots. everyone except the one who can stop that from happening.

"She isn’t ready," Stacker says.

"The hell she isn’t," he snarls, “whose not ready, her or you?"

"That’s enough!" Herc cuts in, “go pack your bags or you aren’t coming at all."

He wants to tell them to go fuck themselves but anger is closing his throat. He turns around and storms out of the room, his footsteps heavy on the ground. He’s so lost and angry he can barely breathe, much less imagine letting another person into his head. But Mako gets it, she gets everything he’s feeling, she just hides it better. Unable to do anything else he turns suddenly and buries his fist in the metal of the wall until his skin breaks.

"Chuck!"

He turns his head to see Mako running towards him. He didn’t even see her following him. She knows, half the base already knows and the rest will too soon enough. She takes one look at him and at his bloody hand and grabs it, pulling him into her room. She doesn’t say a word as she pushes him onto the bed and goes into her bathroom, grabbing the first aide kit. The anger is draining out of him as she grabs his hand and beings to clean the wound.

"It’s bullshit," he says.

"It is not up to us," she tells him quietly. 

"Fuck that," he says pulling his hand back, “you should go to his office and tell him you’re ready."

she looks down and the anger rushes back. Suddenly he isn’t just angry at Stacker, he’s angry at her. They’ve decided things together, they’ve made plans for their life outside the academy. And one word from Stacker and she’s just going to give up on all of that. Deep down he knows he’s not angry, he’s hurt. Hurt that everything they’ve talked about comes second to her sensei.

"You know what? Fuck this and fuck you," he snarls, “stay here and rot, I have a flight to catch."

He wants to hurt her like she’s hurting him. Her face reads nothing as she settles her hands in her lap, still holding the bandages. He swears at everything, swipes a hand through his hair and storms off. He’s got a flight to catch in a couple of hours. He winds up leaving half his stuff behind because he can’t be bothered.

She doesn’t react when she watches the chopper take off.

She sends everything he forgot with no note the night before he boards Striker Eureka for the first time.

He and his father do not talk about what they see in the drift. It’s an unspoken rule. They don’t mention anything about his mom, about Mako, about anything. When Herc drops news of the Jaeger academy into his conversation, Chuck walks out without another word. He doesn’t want to hear someone else acknowledge how badly he wants to hear about Mako. Especially not someone whose been inside his head.

He doesn’t see her until Hong Kong.

His father’s seen Stacker, but either he or Mako are absent on those trips. It’s his own fucking fault. Every interview he gives he says something about his dad and how well they work together. How there is no-one else who can cut it with him. It’s a bold faced lie but he wants to say it enough times to be true. Mako doesn’t need him, so he sure as hell doesn’t need her.

except then he sees her and it’s like he’s forgotten how to breath.

She’s changed exactly opposite to how he has. She’s controlled and quiet and greets him with the respect he’s due while he nearly growls like Max at the sight of her. He spends most of his time with the other pilots while she spends most of it with the staff. When their eyes meet they look away. Deep deep down he knows he’s looking for a sign that she regrets not fighting for what they were supposed to have.

he doesn’t get it.

He watches her become a pilot, watches Stacker deem Raleigh fucking Becket a better match than him. He isn’t proud of his loss of control. But he sees her lose hers and be comforted by someone else and that ugly jealousy he says he doesn’t feel comes lashing out. It isn’t until his dad rips him away and tells him to get his shit together that the anger dissipates long enough for him to seek her out.

He finds her in front of Gipsy, without Raleigh for once. 

"Can I help you?" She asks him without turning her head or getting up.

"I’m sorry," he says through gritted teeth.

Her spine straightens. She’s perfectly controlled as she rises to her feet and looks at him. He hates her for it. She shouldn’t be controlled when he feels like world’s titled on it’s head. But she is and she looks at him calmly, closed off and nods her head.

"You were correct," she says finally.

"God damn it Mako!" He shouts, turning and burying his fist in the metal. He presses his hand against it and fights to breathe, “I was wrong," he says his voice low. Somehow it’s easier to say when he isn’t looking at her, “and so were you," he says.

"I said—" she begins.

"I’m not talking about the hall," he snaps turning around, “why didn’t you fight?!" He demands finally, asking the question that’s plagued him for years, “why not?"

"I wasn’t ready," she says and her voice trembles slightly. 

"That’s bullshit! You were ready! We both know you were ready—were ready!" the words are tumbling out too fast for him to stop, “we said together, Mako!" 

"You left!" She says finally and her shell cracks, “you left without me," she looks at him with betrayal bright in her eyes, “you didn’t wait."

he stares at her as though this is the first time he’s seen her. 

"You didn’t ask me too," he says and his voice is suddenly hoarse. 

She looks down and he realizes with a sinking feeling what she isn’t saying. What she’s never said. That she couldn’t ask him to wait for her, that he was ready and she was not. And she would not ask him to sacrifice his dream, to risk turning down an assignment to wait for her. All the air seems to come out in a rush and before he knows it he’s cross the space between them and his lips are crashing down on hers.

She clings to his jacket, fitting her body to his. It’s been years but they fit together perfectly. His arms wind around her as hers pull him closer than he thinks is possibly. She’s perfect against him and even with his eyes closed he can see the glow of the Jaegers core. He wants to live in this moment forever. 

But he can’t and the glow is suddenly brighter and hotter and there’s water rushing in everywhere as Striker faces her last foes. 

The last thing he hears is Mako whispering I love you in Japanese.


	26. Prompt 26 (Maleigh, Drifting, Fantasies Verse 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: When Raleigh and Mako drift, they both see each others fantasies? like they both feel kinda awkward, but more than that they're like really excited by them too, and they both know it.
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: Hints of smut

"Close your eyes," he breathes his voice low and firm.

She complies. In his head he can feel the way she does. How it feels when his hands guide her arms back. How the rope glides along her skin, pining her hands behind her back. His fingers linger on her skin as he winds the rope around her flesh. He’s more skilled than she would have thought, and the fact that he can do this with such skill makes heat pool low and fast in her stomach.

don’t chase the rabbit. Don’t chase the rabbit. Don’t don’t don’t—

His fingers tighten on the arm of his chair as he fights to keep his mind blank. Not on the fact that the blue black of the ropes matches her hair. He knows how strong she is, how unbreakable. So the fact that she trusts him enough to let him do this makes him hard for an entirely different reason. His fingers bury in her hair, tilting her head to the side as he kisses her roughly. 

He’s still kissing her when it shifts. Mako glances at the smooth leather of the seats and the fact that the windows are down. She catches a glimpse of the lake in front of the car but Raleigh’s hips move up and she’s kissing him roughly, the skin of her thighs tightening around the worn denim of his jeans. 

There’s something rougher to his fantasy but it makes her just as hot. Especially when his hands slip underneath the thin camisole she wears and trace the lines of her spine. Her lips brush against the stubble on his chin and the mark on his lip. 

"Mako," he groans her name and she feels the word come from her own throat. 

Your soul is bared in the drift. It isn’t just that he can see her fantasy he can feel it. He can feel what she does when he winds ropes around her skin and steals her precious control. Just like she can feel what he does when he thinks of taking her to the place where all the teenagers used to go make out and does so much more. She understands the ache he feels when he thinks about it. Just as he understands what she thinks of when her hands slide between her legs. 

Sometimes he thinks it was easier when the only thing they bore was the nightmares.

It isn’t like they don’t acknowledge their attraction. He couldn’t hide what he feels even if he wanted too. When they’re connected he has no doubt his feelings are reciprocated. But when they’re out there things are different. They’re heroes. They’re watched like hawks. Mako’s tight control pushes against his recklessness. And always it feels like Stacker is watching. Over them, judging him, the man is a ghost and he feels impossibly real.

Mako wants him to be real, he knows that. She wants to open the door and have him on the other side, his confidence making everything alright again. He knows that, he respects that. He still can’t sleep on a bottom bunk because he knows no matter whose above him he’ll want it to be Yancy and it never will be. 

He tries not to focus on those memories and pull her towards them. Mako’s abilities get better in leaps and bounds, but she’s still tempted by certain memories. Raleigh tries to compensate by being even looser in the drift than he used to be, by pushing his own rabbits away because they’re all tempted by them. 

Theres a rush and suddenly it’s a combination of their fantasies. The black ropes twist her wrists up, tying them to the headboard of his old bed. His jeans are thrown to the side and the smell of fresh grass wars with some kind of incense. He throws one of her legs over his shoulder and she cries out, her fingers tightening in the black rope. 

"Mako," he groans her name as she tightens around him, her eyes squeezed shut, “fuck, Mako," he swears when her eyes open hazily and lock with his. 

The drift fades too fast.

He’s gasping unsteadily his heart racing. In his comm link he can hear Mako doing the same, fighting for her precious control. His entire body is aching, especially a certain part of it but all he can think of is getting Mako out of there. He hits the release for the rig and unlocks his feetUncrossing the distance to her rig. He releases her and her knees buckle.

"It’s okay," he says settling her on the ground, unwilling to let her go, “you’re okay."

Except she isn’t, not really. the soft gasps escaping her lips are punctuated with something more. He glares when the crew comes in and guides her past them. Something protective is kicked into overdrive, but it’s possessive as well. No-one gets to see her like this but him. He keeps an arm around her as he gets them both back to their rooms. Still across the hall from each other but the distance gets a little more unbearable every time. 

She’s breathing more steadily by the time they get there and when she slowly moves away he lets her. She closes her eyes and puts a hand against the wall to steady herself. He tries not to feel anything at the thought she would prefer the wall to him. he’s just thankful it’s easier to get out of the armor now.

"Mako," he says her name but the sound is hoarse.

"I’m sorry," she says quietly, her voice tight, “thank you for walking me back."

"It’s part of the drift," he says before she can run, “you show everything," she grits her teeth, “you have no control."

"That is not fair," she says quietly, her voice full of anger, “I have control—"

"Not in there," he cuts off and she turns around to face him, “If you try for control in there you’re going to get lost. And out here—" he shakes his head, “out here none of us have control, we just think we do."

"I do," she says.

"No," he shoots back, “and all you want is someone to tell you it’s alright for you not to always be in control."

Her features tighten and he steps forward, invading her personal space just a little. Then a little more. Her back presses to the wall but he knows she isn’t trying to shrink away from him. She’s holding herself there. He steps forward again until he’s close enough for his breath to hit her skin. 

"Not having control doesn’t make you less of a person," he tells her, “it makes you human."

"I need to be a fixed point," she says looking up at him,

"No," he says and his gaze softens, “you need to be my co-pilot."

She looks up at him for a moment, so unsure and so raw it steals his breath away. People think of her and Stacker in the same breath, or they do when they look at her. But she is not a Marshall, she is not their fixed point or their leader or their symbol of a survivor. She is Mako and he’s going beat the shit out of anyone who makes her think that isn’t enough. 

Except the person who thinks it isn’t enough the most is her, and he sure as hell isn’t going to beat her. Before he knows what he’s doing he’s reached down and grasped her wrists. Her eyes widen and he knows this is the first time one of them has dared drag something out of the drift. she glances down to his hands and then up to his face. Their eyes remained locked as he pulls her wrists up and pins them above her head. She can end this at any time, but she makes no move to. 

She’s still as he ducks his head and closes his lips over hers. For a moment it feels like he’s kissing a doll. Then she softens underneath him, her lips parting as he deepens the kiss. Her legs move and before he knows it he’s come forward, pinning her to the wall with his hips, one of his legs pressing between hers. She flexes her wrists but he holds them there. 

"Raleigh," she groans as he drags his lips away and then presses them against hers fiercely again. 

He tells her everything he can’t with his words. That what he’s seen in the dark corners of her mind doesn’t scare him, that he’s sorry for the times he’s fallen for the controlled facade she puts up for the world. That he’s right there, that she doesn’t have to be the little girl standing alone anymore.

they break apart and he looks down at her. His suit is definitely too tight, especially in one particular area. He can see sweat beading her temple. He wants to make every fantasy true but he knows that it isn’t time. Not yet. He gives her one last kiss that borders on chaste before releasing one wrist and shifting the other so they’re holding hands.

"Come on," he says, “it’s easier to get out of these with another pair of hands." 

They make quick work of the suites and the armor. Each has extra clothing in the others room for times like this. He feels marginally better but he knows he should go before he asks for something neither of them need at the moment. He heads for the door when Mako calls his name.

"What kind of car was it?" She asks him.

"Just an American muscle car," he says.

She nods her head before going into a drawer and pulling something out. His eyes widen before he quickly smoothes out her expression. She holds out a hand and he accepts what she gives him, acknowledging it with a curt nod because speaking isn’t really going to happen at the moment. But she seems to get it as she opens the door for him. 

When he’s taken care of himself and is sitting on the bed he untangles the black cotton rope and lets his mind go blank so his fingers will remember the knots from the drift.


	27. Prompt 27 (Chuck, Max, The Russians)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: A scared ten year old Chuck gets lost in the Shatterdome after being separated from his father. He runs into Aleksis who takes him back to Herc. Chuck thanks him, a week later, Aleksis gives Chuck a baby pug so he doesn't have to be scared anymore.
> 
> Pairing: None
> 
> Warnings: I still don't know which Russian is which. For this story Aleksis is the dude

Striker Eureka’s logo is Max.

 

If Chuck cared about those sorts of things he’d be pissed that people seem to think he got his assignment, saw the logo and then went out and bought a fucking dog. But it’s the other way around actually. Because within the shatterdome no-one thinks of the Hansen’s without thinking of Max, even though he is technically Chuck’s dog. The members of their crew argue over who gets to walk him or watch him n while they’re off fighting Kaiju. They are the pilots but Max is the soul.

 

Its fitting since Chuck knows he’s brave but the first time he ever truly feels it is with Max.

 

From the time he’s five until he’s sixteen, Chuck and his father willingly see each other twice a year. The shatterdome is no place for a kid, but then again no-where is these days. It is protected though and while the Jeager program gets underway the promise of protection is almost more valuable than that of monetary compensation. It isn’t like there’s really anywhere to spend money these days.

 

The kids have a dormitory of sorts, watched by a handful of people who aren’t suited to fighting. 

 

Most of the other kids are like him, they lost one parent and the other came to the shatter dome, lured in equal parts by protection and revenge. A handful of them are even pilot’s kids. But he’s different. Their parents come to see them and they go to see them. But not Chuck. He doesn’t want to see his father and his father doesn’t want to see him. 

 

They both blame themselves for Mina’s death. 

 

Chuck thinks with every fibre of his being that she could have saved herself she hadn’t been focused on saving him. Herc thinks if he had been a little faster, a little stronger he could have grabbed them both before the bombs started falling. Both men think the other blames them. Herc thinks Chuck deserves better, a stronger and a faster father. When he does that he’ll be a good enough father. Chuck just sees him as gone. 

On his birthday a Kaiju appears and his father is gone.

He waits for a bit in his father’s room, but he sees a flash of bright silk under his father’s pillow and has to leave before he tries to see if he can still smell his mother’s perfume. He wanders around, taking care to avoid anyone who might send him back. It isn’t long before he’s deeper into the shatterdome than he should be. Metal is more twisted, sparks seem to rain down and the tang of burning machinery settles a knot of panic in his stomach. 

It’s becoming like the day his mom died. Except instead of people everywhere running and screaming, there’s no one around. His throat tightens as he looks around, suddenly not caring if he gets caught. He just wants to go. His feet begin to pick up speed until he’s running, not sure if this is the right way or not. He just wants to get out of there. Sparks fall around him and he thinks he hears someone shouting, but if they catch him they will take him away and his mom will die all over again.

He’s so intent on running away he doesn’t watch where he’s going until he slams head first into something that feels as strong as a Jaeger.

He falls back, only to be caught and lifted up. His eyes widen as he’s faced with the sight of a frowning face. It isn’t a Jaeger, it’s a Jaeger pilot. His eyes widen as his mind immediately comes up with a name. Alexsis. He’s not a pilot, not fully, they’re still finishing his Jaeger. But he will be. The massive pilot looks at him silently and Chuck can only stare. He feels hot tears on his cheeks and fights against the weakness as he looks at Russian man. 

Alexsis says something in Russian and the tears come faster. He doesn’t know how to tell him that he’s lost and afraid and just wants to go to the only thing he has to call home. Alexsis gives away nothing as he adjusts his grip and begins to walk. He makes his way through the sparks and the burning metal and for the first time Cbuck can imagine what it feels like to be in a Jaeger. 

Alexsis carries him back to the children’s place, taking the back routes so he doesn’t have to be shown to everyone. He settles him in the bathroom so he can get himself under control. by the time Chuck comes out Alexsis is gone. His father is away for four days while they look at the damage of the prototype he pilots. Later Chuck learns his dad has outlived another copilot and hates him just a little more. 

Alexsis returns a week later but he isn’t alone.

The puppy is a mess of wrinkles and doesn’t seem to understand how his limbs work. Alexsis sets him down and the dog whines pathetically as he tries to scoot away. He looks at the dog and then up at Alexsis. The Russian bends down and scoops up the dog, pushing him into Chuck’s arms. Chjack has no choice but to grasp the puppy. He whines before licking his face. 

"Max," Alexsis says pointing at the puppy, “He is afraid too," he says looking at him seriously, “you will be brave together."

Max squirms in his arms and Chuck clumsily pets him. He looks over at the woman who smiles and nods, telling him its alright for him to keep the puppy. the shatter dome isn’t really a place for a dog, so Chuck thinks it will work out. He spends two days learning how to say thank you in Russian. When he does Alexsis is with a woman who laughs and tells him in a thick accent how good his Russian is. 

So they become a pair. 

And years later they become a family. 

It isn’t that he buys Max so he can have a part of Striker Eureka with him always. It’s the opposite. Striker Eureka’s logo is Max so he can always have his dog with him. So they can always be brave together.


	28. Prompt 28 (Maleigh, Fantasies Verse 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Maleigh + cunnilingus ;)
> 
> Pairings: Mako Mori/Raleigh Becket
> 
> Warnings: Smut

His breath is hot on her thigh.

She’s gasping unsteadily as his face moves closer to her center. They’re both naked but she’s sitting on the bed and he’s kneeling in front of her. Her fingers tighten in the sheets as his fingers slide up the smooth skin of her thigh. His breath is getting closer and closer and she is so desperate she doesn’t even feel embarrassed as he places a kiss to her upper thigh. 

"Vitals are spiking."

Mako’s eyes fly open and she wonders if it’s possible for the floor to open and swallow her whole. this isn’t anything new, truly it isn’t. Its been getting worse, sharing her mind with Raleigh. Since his first kiss and their acknowledgement of what they’ve seen, its only been getting worse. She knows Raleigh doesn’t want to push her, that for all his confidence he fears the rejection she shows too easily. Neither of them want to be pushed away. 

They’re weeks from their Jaeger being ready and they both know that drifting together in a controlled environment is one thing. But the last thing they need is this when they’re in a fight. Choi pulls them out of the drift slowly but when the rig releases Mako has to grip the arm to keep her knees from buckling. Raleigh looks over but he doesn’t move to help, she knows he’s letting her take control.

She tremors as they release her armor and help her out of her circuit suit. When she walks into the loading dock Raleigh is standing there, his fingers crinkling one of the hard candies he compulsively sucks when he’s nervous. Mako turns away when the smell of watermelon hits her nose and she sees his tongue shift the candy to one side of his mouth. 

She does not need to be thinking about his mouth. 

He falls into step besides her as they walk to their new rooms. Closer to their Jaeger. She’s still all skeleton, but slowly she’s coming to life. The plate armor will be in place soon. The thought adds another hit of adrenaline to her. Mako fights not to break into a dead run. Raleigh always seems to control himself better after these instances. He only walks quickly because she does.

Except then they’re outside their rooms and before she knows what’s happened her back is against the wall and Raleigh’s mouth is on hers. 

She practically whimpers at the taste of watermelon as his tongue probes her mouth. His hands are pressed to the wall, his body fitting firmly around hers. The jacket he wears falls against the side of her body, enveloping her in the smell of him. Their hips are pressed tightly together and she can feel his hardness through the soft cotton of his pants. 

"Fuck, Mako," he breathes before ducking his head and taking the skin of her neck into his mouth.

Her eyes flutter. He says her name like that in her fantasies as well. They’ve never needed words but while she is silent he swears. But when he says her name like that, she knows he’s saying everything she’s afraid to hear. How hot he finds what she thinks, how each time it gets harder to pull away but he does. Because for her he would—he will do anything. 

Her fingers fist in his jacket and she tugs him a little closer. He exhales against her skin, his hot breath hitting somewhere below her collarbone. 

They move together frantically. There’s still a precision and a beauty to their movements but there’s something more as they pull off each other’s clothing, replacing fabric with hands and mouths. They’re down to their underwear when he pushes her back onto the bed. He’s a warm weight on her as they kiss, his hand skimming the lines of her body. Her heel drags up the back of his thigh before his hand catches her knee and guides it up to his shoulder. 

His lips leave hers to press to her collarbone and then her chest. They follow the cut of muscle down below her chest, to her stomach and finally to the top of her underwear. Her eyes fly open as his thumbs brush the tops of her thighs. He opens his eyes and looks down at her Before he surges upwards and crushes their mouths together. 

"Trust me," he whispers, his voice low.

She nods as he kisses her again, his hand slipping into her underwear. She moves her legs where he directs them, letting him slide her panties off. He moves her other leg to his shoulder and presses a kiss to her knee. His lips move up her thigh, his kisses soft and wet against her skin. He glances up but she doesn’t shake her head, she doesn’t think she can move as he turns his face into her center.

Mako is not loud.

Naturally she is but she has trained herself not to be. To always be quiet, always be in control. some times it is harder than others. But when his tongue presses into her she can’t hold back the sound that escapes her lips. His tongue thrusts into her core and her thighs tighten. She doesn’t know if she wants to close herself off or pull him closer. His hands slide up, pressing to her thighs before they pull her legs apart.

"Mako," he breathes her name and a dry sound comes from her throat when his breath tickles her. 

His mouth is back, but its higher and she turns her face into the pillow as his lips wrap around her. It’s so different from her fantasy, so overwhelming. Her hips move and she feels him tighten his hold on her with one hand. The other slides underneath her and then up her and then into her. She gasps raggedly as his fingers slide into her body, stretching her, exploring her. All the while his mouth remains on her, focused on that torturous spot. 

It goes white hot instantly.

Her back arches as her heels dig into his back, the feeling overwhelming her. He keeps going as she hits her peak and drives her over the next one as well. She’s completely lost to the feeling as he holds her there and pushes her again and again. She can hear her throat working but she doesn’t care what she’s saying, she barely cares if anyone can hear through the thick walls. 

When she can think again, Raleigh’s lips are on her pelvis. They brush against old scars and new bruises. Even that is enough to make her breath catch as his stubble scrapes her skin. She feels his breath on her face finally and leans up to kiss him. He tastes odd, but not bad. Finally he pulls away and leans his forehead against hers, their eyes opening to look at each other. 

He doesn’t try to say anything but there is no need. Their smiles say it all anyway.


	29. Prompt 29 (Mako, Raleigh, Injuries)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako starts noticing that Raleigh's arm is bothering him.
> 
> Pairing: None, Maleigh if you squint
> 
> Warnings: None

It happens so subtly that if she didn’t know him as well as she knows herself, Mako thinks she would have missed it. 

For all his smallness, Raleigh is not still. His presence doesn’t flood the room like the other Jaeger pilots. If anything it’s like he’s trying to disappear, to fade into the shadows as she’s prone to doing. But he’s always moving. He’s like the hummingbirds Stacker showed her in a book, he mut move or he will die. Mako knows that isn’t true but Raleigh’s subconscious doesn’t agree. His fingers are always playing with something or drumming on his thigh or reaching for one of the hard candies she knows he keeps in his pocket. She knows all his ticks. She’s felt the comfort they bring him. 

So when they slowly get replaced by his hand going to his shoulder, she notices immediately. 

This isn’t a gesture for comfort. Not if the way his mouth tightens is any indication. He’s told her his arm is shot but after their minds melded she understands a bit better. The aches are real but they’re worse because of what happened with Gipsy. His mind remembers getting his limb torn off. Now it remembers getting both. But his left arm is actually injured. He hides it very well but Mako can see how he’s reacting to things. 

Problem is whenever he sees her looking at him he drops his hand and goes back to one of the ticks. He smiles and reaches for a candy or something, like nothing’s wrong in the world. She doesn’t call him out on it, just glances down at his hand in her own silent way of telling him he isn’t fooling her. But if holding his arm temporarily makes him feel better, then she doesn’t want to give him a reason to stop. 

She can’t exactly force him to get it checked out either. 

He’s an adult and he’s entitled to do things even if they are wrong. Mako knows he’s still dealing with the damage of his original injury. She’s worried he’ll deal with this in the same manner. But she doesn’t want to force him. Especially since she knows his issues are just as mental as they are physical. Instead she begins to think and comes up with her own plan for how they can move this in another direction. 

It takes her a day or two to gather supplies and work up the nerve to go across the hall for something other than her usual reasons. 

He opens the door shirtless. 

"Hey, Mako," he says with an easy smile, “hang on, let me get a shirt," he tells her like he usually does. 

"No," she says, halting his hand before it can reach for the white cotton tank he favors, “sit," she says. 

He opens his mouth to say something and then closes it, his features softening. A part of Mako wants to clobber him. They are not in the drift and yet he can see through her as if he’s still in her head. She knows she’s doing a good job at hiding her nervousness and that she needs the opening he’s offering her. But some horribly girlish part of her wants to say nevermind and retreat across the hall. 

She sternly reminds herself that co-pilots take care of each other. Even if they’re at least a year out from getting back in a Jaeger. They are still co-pilots and if his arm gets worse he may not pass the physicals anymore. He drags the standard issue metal chair over to where she’s standing. He only moves it with his good arm and Mako fights not to cringe at the obviousness of it. 

When he settles she steps behind him and slides the small bottle from her pocket. She pours some of the gel into her hands and rubs them together. Gently she places her hand on his shoulder. He tenses at the touch and she stills. A hollow laugh escapes his lips. 

"That’s cold," he says. 

"It is supposed to be," she tells him. 

He nods his head faintly but keeps his eyes ahead as she slowly begins to work the muscles. She tries not to go hard. She’s not trying to make things worse. But she can feel the tension radiating off him, feel the muscles tremble underneath her fingertips. She starts at his shoulder, above the place where his scars begin and where Gipsy’s arm got ripped off. Her fingers press against his skin as she focuses on the knots. 

She’s intent on her work. Her focus is one of her prized abilities. She lasers in on the task and everything else just fades away. There’s a comfort in knowing she can still do it, still do this. She works at his shoulder, moving her hands down to his scars as she continues to get the muscles to relax. She follows the line of his arm, moving the limb where she needs it to go. He keeps himself loose, letting her move his arm where she needs it to be. 

She’s working the kinks out of his forearm when she starts to see the small burns. They’re faded and old enough to be completely healed but her fingers pause over the puckered skin. 

"Just wielding stuff," he says and her eyes fly up, “building that wall," he adds. 

She nods her head and goes back to her work. She knows all of those things. She’s felt each of them be burned onto her own skin. Even the darker, angrier ones that are the result of no money for medicine. She spends extra time on those ones, even though it’s been too long and there isn’t much she can do. Finally she comes to his hands and begins to work those as well. She can feel his fingers quake slightly under hers, but it isn’t as bad as it usually is. 

When she’s finished she dares to look up at him.

He looks relaxed. A hundred times more relaxed than she thinks she’s ever seen him. Her fingers linger on his hand as she sees him. She knows he’s always looking for those moments when her control slips, when she’s her most honest self. But that is a two way street and she finds that what she looks for is the moments when his shell cracks as well. When the weight of the world seems to slip off his shoulders, just a little. 

He seems to realize she’s stopped and his eye begins to open but she ducks her head, turning back to his hand and continuing. He’s loose but she doesn’t want to pull him out, doesn’t want to make him feel like he has to go back to how he usually is. When she gets to his shoulder again she lets her fingers slide up his neck. His head rolls forward at the lightest press of her fingers. 

She lets them move up from his neck to slip through the golden strands of his hair. His hair is thicker than hers and could definitely do with being washed but a low groan comes from his lips before he can cut it off. Mako looks down, surprised but she doesn’t stop. Not for another minute or two. She cradles his head in her hands and he leans into her touch. She knows this is not easy for him, but she keeps herself steady for what does next. 

"The medic has an appointment tomorrow," she says to him.

"Do i need to see the medic?" he asks, his voice heavy with calm.

"Yes," she says and her other hand gently cups his shoulder. 

He sighs and she feels the muscle tense. 

"Please" she says finally, the word coming out in Japanese. 

One of his eyes opens and he looks at her. She returns his gaze steadily, thankful that she does not have to tell him why. That in the darkest moments the knowledge that they are one day closer to being back in a Jaeger, back in the drift, it is what keeps her going. They will not be desperate for pilots. He will need to pass the physicals. Her thumb brushes the edge of his scar and he sighs softly. 

"What time?"

"Five."

"In the morning?" he questions, breaking her hold to turn and look at her. 

"You don’t sleep," she tells him evenly, not sure why the idea of waking up at five in the morning is an issue.

"After what you just did I might," he says. She rolls her eyes at him, “okay, okay I’ll go," he says holding up his good hand in surrender. 

"Good," she says and puts the bottle back in her pocket. She turns for the door as he leans forward onto his forearms, “I can come back tomorrow if you would like," she offers. 

"Sure," he says, “but I’d rather have you with me in the morning."


	30. Prompt 30 (Chako, Survival)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Mako and chuck tell each other how they feel right before he blows up striker eureka and Stacker saves him for Mako.
> 
> Pairing: Mako Mori/Chuck Hansen 
> 
> Warnings: character death

"we can clear a path for the lady."

Miles under the pacific, closer to the breach than anyone has a right to be, his Jaeger flooding with water and sparks, Chuck Hansen’s life finally makes sense. He isn’t a hero. He’s not some eleventh hour savior who comes in and rescues all of them like a robotic messiah. He is the best. He is the fixed point, the firm line. He is the one who will get the hero to her destination. 

He nods at Stacker, who represents the best future he can hope for. And where is he? In the exact same position as himself. The thought almost makes Chuck smile. He grew up the day he watched his mother die and his father leave, hopped into a Jaeger before he finished growing. He’s been skipping steps since he was a kid. This is fitting. He looks at the read out and sees the Kaiju are focused on Striker. Which is good because he needs a minute. 

"Hey, Mako?" He calls into the comm link, trying not to look at Stacker, “I don’t know if you can hear me or if this fucking thing’s broken. But I’m sorry," he says and closes his eyes.

He forces himself not to think of her now, but how she was before things got so fucked up. Back when they made all their plans together and they were going to be pilots. Back before Stacker deemed him ready but her not and she didn’t argue and he just let the hurt and anger overwhelm him. He feels something like a tug, like someone else is controlling his mind. Logically he knows but he doesn’t question it as he chases the rabbit for once and winds up in that hallway. 

"I shouldn’t have left," he says to the younger version of her, who has her back turned so he doesn’t have to see the differences, “you shouldn’t have let me but if I was ready I should have taken charge. I should have decided to stay."

"No," Mako’s voice comes from somewhere far away, “you needed to go. Your father, the world, they needed you."

"Yeah that’s the bitch of it," he says, “they needed me, but the only person I ever really needed was you," he hears something but ignores it. He’s allowed a deathbed confession, “we said together and I walked away, I’m sorry for breaking it."

"I’m sorry for letting you," she says finally. 

He laughs because she isn’t letting him off the hook. Not that he’d expect her to anyway. But death makes things crazy, makes people crazy. Not Mako, not yet Anyway. But he knows what’s coming. He lets go of the drift and forces his eyes onto the switch that will kill them, the switch that will give Gipsy a shot. His fingers brush the switch before he heasitates. But Stacker hasn’t flipped it either so he figures he has a moment. 

"It’s okay to let yourself break," he tells her, “but promise me you’ll find a way back together."

"Chuck—"

"Promise me!" He demands.

"Yes," she says finally, her voice slipping into Japanese and he knows why it’s so tight. 

"Goodbye, Mako," he says finally, using the only Japanese he remembers from the lessons she used to give him. 

He looks over to see Stacker, but the other rig is empty and suddenly he’s lifting. Denial rips itself from his throat. He’s supposed to confess and die in a blaze of glory, a good death for a ranger. But the fucking escape pod is closing around him and Stacker is moving back to the switch. Their eyes lock and the drift claims him for a final moment.

It isn’t his memory but he feels the same pain as Mako buries her face in her hands. There’s broken glass everywhere and he realizes why he never got his stuff back from the academy. Betrayal is bright in Mako’s eyes as she stares him down and he returns the gaze through Stacker’s eyes. 

"He’s my co-pilot," she sobs at him, “we’re supposed to be in this together."

"He is his father’s co-pilot," he says in Stacker’s voice, “you aren’t a match."

she flies at him and he catches her, turning her blind strength and raw momentum against her. He isn’t rough but he’s firm as he turns her and pins her to his chest. Her fingers grip his lapels as she sobs brokenly hating that she is confirming everything he’s said. He doesn’t move as he holds her and she sobs over and over. 

we are. We are a match. We are. 

The drift disconnects as his pod shoots upwards. He’s gasping and cursing for entirely different reasons as the explosion goes white hot. He shoots upwards and the pod breaks the surface. He blows the top and staggers to his feet, ripping his helmet off and throwing it to the side so no-one can hear the blind scream that rips from somewhere deep in his chest. 

His knees buckle because he knows the regret Stacker felt. And the weight of the life they could have had collapses on him, a thousand times heavier than a neural bridge. Mako is somewhere beneath his feet and she’s dying and he can’t do a fucking thing about it. He’s gasping for air but it feels like there’s nothing in his lungs. Just the iron fist around his throat and the burning in his eyes. 

He says her name through gritted teeth. He doesn’t want to think about finding her in the drift space, he wants her pod to bob up. He wants to start making up for all the stupid shit he’s done and the fucked up things he’s said.

"Please," he gasps out, “please don’t."

He isn’t a religious man, but he prays. Like his mother did when she held him before screaming at him to run. His fingers press into the metal before he draws his hand back and punches it. Again and again and again until the sound of something breaking the surface freezes him. 

He turns and stares at the pod as the lid is blown off. He supposes he should feels better when he sees her petite form, but it feels like he really, really can’t breathe as she rips her own helmet off and staggers to her feet. Her eyes are frantically skimming the dark water and he knows she’s looking for her co-pilot and he tells himself that’s the way it’s supposed to be. 

Except then she turns and she sees him and it takes her two seconds to jump off her pod.

"Mako no!" He shouts and dives after her because she’s here and alive and if she gets eaten by a shark or something he’s really going to loose it.

they meet in the space between their two pods and though he opens his mouth to say something she’s already drawn back her and and punched him in the eye. He reels back, cursing as she glares at him. She’s furious and tearful and so naked with emotion he forgets how to breathe. This is the girl he’s been looking for, the one who folded herself away after he left.

the one he thought he broke.

Which immediately goes on his list of shit he has to make up for because Mako definitely isn’t weak enough to be broken by him. And she clearly isn’t because he may not know Japanese but he knows a curse when he hears it. But she’s moving closer to him and he can’t quite move away. 

Instead he grabs the back of her neck and pulls her towards him, finally kissing her.

She tastes like the salt of the ocean and the staleness of canned air. But her mouth is just as fierce on his and he can’t breathe for a good reason for once. not as a lifetime of what ifs slowly begin to shift to whens. they’ll never be what they should have been, but they can be something else. 

When they pull apart Becket is climbing on top of his pod and giving him a look that makes him think he’s gotten more orders from Stacker. Specifically regarding what to do if Chuck fucks this one up. But Mako’s pushing him back towards his pod so they dont drown after their first kiss and he’s got no intention of fucking anything up. 

Not where she’s concerned anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before I learned Max's name. Though he is handsome


End file.
